


A New Pokémon Hero

by Zoroarkkkk



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-14 04:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoroarkkkk/pseuds/Zoroarkkkk
Summary: The Pokémon world can be a lot darker than displayed in the anime and games, but is also deeper and harsher. The world is ravaged by criminal organizations and wild Pokémon, only Champions and their chosen leaders can separate the danger of the natural world. Only, what happens when the Champion of Kalos is shirking on her duties? Strong female lead!





	1. Vaniville Town

Sitting beside her parent’s graves, the girl hugged the egg to her chest. The egg was practically unbreakable, only a few materials could break them, all only accessible by other pokemon. It was the only object that made her feel as if she was strong. The brown and tan egg had been around for seemingly years, but in reality, only two weeks.  
Her parents couldn’t hurt her anymore, never again. She would become strong, strong and protect others.  
She knew that realistically she had her whole life in front of her, but she couldn’t help but be caught in the moment. She was left as a ward to the state, no other family around to claim her, Everest was officially an orphan. In Kalos however, orphans had the same opportunity as other children to go on a pokemon adventure, and not have to be left in the total watch of one person.Instead, got an monthly check that would normally go to a foster family for their own. Then had to check in with a supervisor once a month to ensure they were behaving responsibly, but other than they, they were practicelly free to whatever they pleased, lest they let themselves stand out.  
So, here Everest sat, a backpack thrown over her shoulders. Inside was crammed with whatever she thought she may need, which included two changes of clothes and two empty poke balls. She had even bought herself a pokedex, it was black and red with a fancy light up screen. Attached to the back was a sleeping bag - she didn’t want to sleep in a poke-center if she didn’t have to. So, hopefully soon, she could find a weak leveled pokemon to catch, and they could train together. Otherwise, she was a sitting Ducklett here with only an egg.  
Leaving everything the brown haired girl knew, she took off down the dirt path, through the towering trees.


	2. Route 1/ Aquacorde Town

Not even an hour later, Everest was still alone, but now, she had seen more than she ever did. So many pokemon lived in the underbrush and overhead she never knew about. With the help of her pokedex, she learned it was best to avoid Fletchling nests, and when frightened, Caterpie release a bad odor, so Everest carefully walked through the grass.   
Surrounded by nature, she felt free. For the first time since they left, she was happy. Maybe she was meant to come out on this adventure and experience all this life. It was truly beautiful out here, so beautiful that she didn’t notice she wasn’t alone until she was a few steps away.   
“Feaarrrr. Roww row.” A bird cawed from up in the trees, a huge Fearow sat above her, the brown and red bird sitting more than seven feet tall, black eyes staring down at her. Instinctually, she hugged the egg closer to her chest, unable to run away as she was stuck to the spot in fear. The Spearow line, the pre-evolution to Fearow, were one of the few pokemon known to steal eggs. It raised its huge wings, more than fifteen feet either way, and cawed down at her, as if mocking her small stature. The eleven year old bravely stood her ground, unflinching as she stared back. This was only the first test of many she would face, Everest knew that, but that didn’t make it any less scary.  
“You can’t have it.” She stood fiercely, hugging it to her chest. The brown pokemon merely shook out its wings as it prepared an attack. It didn’t have any qualms about attacking a human. Its beak began to glow faintly as it left its perch, and with a moment’s notice, she ducked, talons barely missing her back.  
“Zorrrrr.” A snarl broke through the night, and Everest stopped immediately. She shivered in fear as he slowly looked to her left. The human was sure she was going to now have to fight off two pokemon on her lonesome, which was a terrifying thought considering even the weakest of pokemon still had the potential to hospitalize a human. There, partially hidden by a bush, was a pokemon. She couldn’t tell what it was, she hadn’t ever seen one of its kind. It growled lowly, and stalked forward, but Everest held her ground, straightened up after the aerial attack.   
The Fearow hovered overhead, cawing unsurely. Both were surprised when the newcomer suddenly changed into a Fearow as well, this one larger. It screeched angrily as it flew away, deciding the egg wasn’t worth it. Still standing her ground, the human looked at the small pokemon who had come to her rescue as it changed back to the small creature. She had a feeling it was something like a Ditto.  
“Thank you.” She managed to murmur, dipping her head in respect. The grey and red pokemon looked up at her, some weird look in its eyes. The teal eyes held a knowledge beyond its size, and simply stood there, observing. She decided to sit down on the grass, a few yards from the mystery pokemon, and check over the egg to ensure nothing was damaged.   
As she let her hands drift over the smooth curves of the cool egg, a small dark nose nudged her hand. Turning to look at the pokemon, she smiled at it affectionately. It rumbled at her, and rubbed its cheeks against her hand. In response, she gladly pet it.  
“I wouldn’t have this egg if weren’t for you.” She managed to mumble graciously, still in shock from the fast turn of events. The grey and red Pokemon purred happily, and Everest gave it a bit of her Oran berry she was eating.While the pokemon ate, the new trainer raised her Pokedex.   
“No information found. Researchers are still finding new species of Pokemon.” It chirped almost gleefully in the monotone voice, as if making fun of her lack of knowledge.  
“Great, this definitely was worth all that money.” She hissed under her breath. She examined the creature once more, hoping to see a feature she recognized, maybe this was a pre-evolution of something she knew. It was most likely a dark type, as the coloring suggested. She gave it a couple more berries, in hopes that it remained friendly.  
While dark types could be friendly, that usually was only the case when raised by a skilled trainer, otherwise their instincts kicked in far too often. Hunters of the dark had to be sneaky and stealthy, they weren’t rewarded for letting their prey know they were there. Usually dark types meant pranks and theft, sometimes even unneeded violence in stronger evolutions. But this one seemed nice enough, after all, it had saved her egg.  
It was smaller than Zigzagoon and could easily be picked up. It looked somewhat like Fennekin, the shape was similar, but coloring was all wrong.It looked back up to her, expectant teal eyes asking for more berries.  
“My name’s Everest. I don’t have many berries left, but if we travel together, we could get more.” She promised, while the mystery Pokemon seemed somewhat strong, it didn’t seem too worried about growing stronger. But, maybe the trainer could change that. “I also want to get stronger, I wanna be able to challenge other trainers. Do you want to grow strong together?” It regarded her carefully, even sniffing her outstretched hand before nodding.   
With a smile, Everest took out a poke ball from her bag, her stomach spinning at the idea of actually having a Pokemon of her own. The black nose pressed against the button, and in a scarlet flash of light, the Pokemon was sucked in. It shook a few times, but clicked in the end, and she held in a scream of excitement. Immediately releasing it, it squeaked happily.  
“Hey, welcome to the team.” She smiled and stood, the Pokemon decided to follow, staying near her heels. “What kind of Pokemon are you? I don’t recognize you.” Her question rang out through the empty part of the woods.   
Route 1 was pretty short, only a couple miles long, but last week Vanville Town and Aquacorde Town announced that they would clear a majority of the woods and make a path, due to the large amount of Fearow decided to nest. By doing this, it would solve the growing flock problem, and hopefully make the residents safer.  
“Zorrr, zor, Zorua.” It chirped happily, spinning in circles, chasing its tail. Looking back at her Pokedex which had finally beeped after receiving information on her new friend, she smiled down at what she did find.   
“Zorua.” Everest tested out, while the machine didn’t hold that information, it did say her gender as well as the moves she knew. Her companion yipped happily as they continued on. “Are you good with Zorua, or do you want a nickname?” She knew quite a few people gave their companions a nickname, and she had always thought it was cool, especially to distinguish others of the same species. Zorua yipped excitedly, and surprised the dark haired girl by jumping up onto her shoulder. That must mean yes.  
First, she tried a couple of normal dark type names, like Shadow, Midnight, Obsidian, Omen, and Opal, but she didn’t like any of those. Next, she wondered if she would like a human-like name, some liked them, made them feel closer to their trainers. The Zorua proved to be picky, as she shot down all of the girly names, so she then decided to go to names that worked for guys or girls.  
“How about Spencer?” Everest asked, and she was received with a lick to her cheek. “Spencer, I think it fits you.” Everest smiled at her new friend, and saw the forest breaking up ahead. “Look! We made it!” Spencer yipped happily, excited for her trainer’s happiness. Talking proved the best way to kill time, as they finally made it to Aquacorde Town.  
The entrance to the small town was very informal, but that was kinda to be expected, as it was a very small town, barely larger than her own home town. The warm colored bricks were the foundation for the town on the river, and they loved the water. In her ear, Spencer yipped excitedly as they passed under the arch, and she saw the town.  
“This is Aquacorde Town, it’s our first stop as a team.” Everest grinned happily to her pokemon, who echoed her sentiment with a gleeful yip as she nuzzled her cheek. Seems like she was just as lonely as the human was.  
They walked in silence as they watched a flute player perform on the closest street corner, playing for a crowd of locals. The tune was cheery, and Everest wanted to sing along to it. Passing the street corner and a couple residential buildings didn’t attract too much attention, just a few glances. As they walked down the main street, they came across a cafe, along with tables set up out front.  
While the human did have some food packed, she couldn’t turn down the smell of freshly baked bread, and took a seat outside of the cafe she had visited a few times before.   
Spencer jumped off her shoulder, and favored the left side of the table where the sun hit perfectly. Basking in the sun, the Pokemon watched wearily as an unfamiliar human approached her trainer.   
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?” The woman asked, holding a menu up in case she needed to look it over, but Everest shook her head.   
“Could I have a croissant with Pecha jam, and a bowl of berries?” Spencer perked up at the promise of berries, which made the waitress laugh a bit.   
“Of course. I hope you like Nanab berries.” She smiled softly and walked away, and Everest turned her attention to the increasingly wary pokemon.  
“You don’t have to be afraid here, there aren’t that many people. I’ll protect you anyways.” Everest smiled at her partner, who nodded, but still watched the people moving around them, which was actually a very small number.   
The town was really peaceful, one of the smallest around, so hopefully the Zorua would get used to the smaller towns before they made it to Lumioise City. A couple other people sat at the other tables, too involved with their laptops or books however to notice the newcomers. Farther off, past the small dropoff, the stairs led to small shops near the river, which they would check out later.  
The waitress came back after a few minutes with food for both, including water in a cup and a bowl, which Everest was very thankful for. Spencer was less wary of the woman after she set a bowl of Nanab, Pecha, and Oran berries in front of her friend, and gladly began eating as if she hadn’t in months.  
“So, if it’s okay with you, we should enter the Kalos league!” She exclaimed excitedly as she tucked into her food. Curious blue eyes met hers, and tilted her head a little, questioning what she meant exactly. “So the Kalos League takes place around this time next year, where all of the strongest trainers and their Pokemon battle, till there’s only one winner.” Everest began, and by the wagging tail of Spencer, she seems to have caught her attention. “See, we have to battle the eight gyms that are around Kalos, and win. We get these badges that prove we won, and when we have all eight, we can enter for the next competition.” Everest explained happily.  
“Zorrr!” Spencer agreed happily, it seemed that she wanted to prove her strength as well, and her trainer was giddy. Ever since she was a little girl she had ALWAYS wanted to enter, to prove she could raise a family of her own that wasn’t broken, that she was strong even when those around her had been weak.   
“Good, now, we have to train. We have to be strong, but clever. We don’t necessarily need all the power, but we can be smart about it too.” Everest pulled out her notebook, along with her Pokedex. “See, there are 18 types, each have different strengths and weaknesses, which you probably know a little about.” Pulling up a chart that she knew by heart, the colors danced across Spencer’s eyes as she took it all in, from what Everest could tell, she was smart.   
Everest began sketching something in her book, letting curious eyes watch as each pen stroke was precise, careful. Eventually, it was revealed to be a decent sketch of Spencer, with Zorua written above it. She chirped happily, and sniffed the page in interest.  
“So, I want to keep track of everything important, we can’t forget anything that will help us. Knowledge is power.” Everest explained to her new friend, who ate up her words. “See, I’ll keep track of your moves here, so even if one day I don’t have a Pokedex, I can know what you have, or even where we started.” A few moves were then wrote beside the picture, which was still nonsense to Spencer, but it looked smart.  
Their lunch continued like that, Everest went into fascinating details to Spencer, who eagerly listened. Everest didn’t know why just yet, but Spencer wanted to follow her every word. 

A couple hours later, Everest and Spencer were down in the city square looking at the shops. As she was about to walk into a shop, a man came up to her, with a huge smile on his face.  
“Hello!” He greeted, which made Spencer hover even closer to her trainer protectively, but the man didn’t seem to notice. “You look like a brand new trainer. I’ve been giving out potions to new trainers for years, it’s free if you would like one.” He offered, his smile genuine. Everest’s eyes lit up, and gladly accepted it.  
“Thank you sir! And yes, we just started today. My name is Everest.” She smiled at him, and he did a double take.  
“Wow, only just today! Well, your Pokemon already looks mighty strong! Good luck on your journey young miss.” He waved and departed, and Everest hugged the purple bottle to her chest, every little bit helped.   
“Hear that Spence? He thinks you already look strong.” The appraisal made Spencer’s chest puff a little bit in pride before she jumped up to Everest’s shoulder once more. “But we still need some supplies.” Pushing the door open, a little bell alerted the store owner to Everest, and she smiled and waved.   
“Why hello there. Aren’t you a cute little thing.” She cooed to Spencer, whose ears tucked in embarrassment, and Everest swallowed back a laugh, from strong to cute. “How can I help you?” She asked kindly. The shop was pretty little, but that was to be expected, after all, it was a small town, they count have much in variety.  
“Do you have any trainers’ supplies here? We’re just starting our journey.” For now, the egg was placed in her backpack, wrapped in clothes to keep it protected. She didn’t want any thief in the town to grab it, or Fearow for that matter.   
“Most certainly. We have the finest potions and poke balls, if you’re interested. 400 and 300 respectively.” Her eyes glimmered a bit at the prospect of money, and Everest frowned, the seemed a little steep on the price… but she needed each. They were about to go to Route 2, then Santalune Forest, they needed to be plenty stocked up. And she did have a little bit of money left.  
“Okay, I need two pokeballs, and five potions please.” Her request was quickly filled, the merchandise placed carefully in the bag while Everest searched the special storage compartments that were bigger on the inside for her money.   
“2,600 please.” The woman smiled, though now Everest could detect the greediness in her voice. So could Spencer apparently, because she growled a little. The woman frowned, then shook her head. “Well, you know what, you’re buying so many, I’ll give you a discount, 1,900.” Everest’s eyes shot open, but wasn’t about to object. Handing the woman the money, they left the shop without a word.   
Placing each thing in a designated spot, Everest had to put her bag down, and rested it on the fountain in the middle, meanwhile, Spencer gazed into the water.  
“The potions will heal you up if you get hurt.” Pointing to the special medicine which was actually incredible, and had improved in leaps in bounds over the past couple years, but all Spencer saw was some purple goo. “Don’t look at it with such hate.” She grinned and laughed as she put the last one in her bag. “Trust me, you’ll appreciate it one day. Now, if we come across someone who wants to join our team, we’ll use these.” Everest explained, holding up the white and red Poke-balls. “But, when the egg hatches, we’ll use this one.” This time, a pink and yellow ball fit in her palm, one that she had gotten with the egg. “A friend gave it to me, sorry I didn’t use it for you, but I guess it’s supposed to help the healing process.” Spencer shrugged, not really caring about that. Personally, she didn’t mind cause she didn’t want to be in her ball anyways. She liked walking with Everest.  
With that, the brown haired girl threw the strap over her shoulder before Spencer joined her. Walking over the bridge into the unknown.


	3. Route 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First battles, as well as a good training session.

Aquacorde Town was as far as she had ever been, so Route 2 was completely new. After crossing the great river that divided the route and the town, Spencer jumped off her shoulder and decided to stand guard a few steps in front of Everest. Almost instantly, they came a cross a patch of tall grass which stretched for at least 100 yards in every direction, no doubt there were plenty of Pokemon within it.  
“I think we should get through this patch of grass, then find a campsite.” Everest suggested as they began to wade through the grass, the human was careful of where she stepped, ensuring she didn’t step on a bug type. Suddenly, a familiar hissing noise came from her left, and she looked over to see Spencer hissing at a Scatterbug.  
Their first battle! She was so excited, but swallowed back her shout of excitement. Instead, she had to think of a good strategy.   
“Use pursuit.” She pointed towards the bug-type, but then realized that was a wasted motion. One, Spencer already knew who to attack, there was one target. Second, Spencer wasn’t even looking at her.   
Nonetheless, Spencer’s paws grew dark, and she jumped forward, straight towards Scatterbug. It hissed in response, and shot a string of sticky web at Spencer. Upon impact, the Scatterbug was knocked unconscious, but the dark-type was covered in white String-shot.  
“Yes! Nice one!” She cheered, and picked up the messy Zorua. It whined pitifully, and the human had to laugh as she tried to get the sticky off of her partner. Out of the corner of her eye, Scatterbug got up and crawled away, not bothering with the trainer. Instead, she waded through the grass, careful to be quiet so to avoid any other wandering Pokémon. Any pokémon, no matter how small could be a real danger to her and her pokemon. Finally making it out, she sat below a tree, dusk approaching.   
Setting her bag beside her, she placed Spencer on her lap, and got a brush from her bag. The brush she had bought awhile ago for whatever Pokemon she eventually caught, and now it would come in handy.   
“This will pull on your fur a bit, so stay still.” She mumbled, carefully dividing up the sections of fur that hadn’t been hit. Spencer whined, but did as told. “You did so well, that was awesome. One hit!” She exclaimed happily, praising her new friend. Spencer whined in response, but this one wasn’t as sad.   
Continuing brushing through the soft fur, she began to dribble water over her as well, which Spencer was not happy about. Ignoring the small hisses, she finally pulled the last of the string shot off of Spencer, and flung it to the side, discarded and forgotten.  
“Look, you’re all pretty now.” Spencer grumbled, not sure if she should be annoyed or happy at the turn of events just decided to settle down besides her trainer. “Well, I’m going to set up camp. We really made good time today.” 

The next morning, the sun woke both up by shinning directly in their faces. Spencer hid her eyes by covering them with her ears, but it was hopeless, meanwhile, Everest sighed as she sat up. The sunrise was beautiful, oranges and pinks stretched across the sky, flocks of Fletchling were silhouettes against the amazing color mix. Nearby, a small Weedle sat beside the burning embers of the campfire as it warmed itself. Wearily keeping the poison type in view at all times, she began to get the campsite packed up.  
She could hear the calls of the wild pokemon just beyond the bushes, reminding the pair that danger always waited them. No matter how brightly the sun shinned down on them, there were monsters lurking in the darkness, longing for a bite of a weaker being. As is nature, survival of the fittest.   
Another reason she had to get stronger, she refused to stand aside and let herself be trampled by other trainers or even wild pokémon. Stay still too long, you get lazy, weak. Open yourself up for defeat or even death. It wasn’t uncommon for trainers to disappear as they traveled through forests or particularly long routes. Conferences brought out the strongest and the most narcissistic assholes out there, which guaranteed for deaths. Everest refused to be one of the many to overestimate her ability and loose a friend.   
Therefor, they had much to do before the Conference. So many ideas raced through her head, all the things she wanted to do, all the ways she and Spencer - and whoever else joined them- were going to rise to the top. Last night, she had poured over every single dark-type move. Yeah, of course Spencer couldn’t learn all of them, but until she discovered what moves Zorua could learn, this was the best way. Plus, she wanted to teach her other moves as well, she just wasn’t sure if it was possible.  
“Okay, Spencer, I had a great idea.” Everest announced, dramatically flaring her hair as she swept it out from behind her. The dark-type looked up at her in curiosity, eager to grow stronger too. “Let’s boost your speed, make you untouchable.” She proposed, and as if it was planned, a Pidgey flew past them, chasing a Fletchling that was much faster. “See! The world of pokémon is giving us inspiration. I’ll race you to that tree and back.” Challenge in her eyes, Everest took off, with Spencer hot on her heels. Little did either of them know, this was the first of many races that would lead to their team to be known as the fastest in all of Kalos.

Later that day, after an hour of racing, Everest finally decided that she was much outclassed by Spencer. But that wouldn’t stop their races anyways. Now, with the sun beating down on them, and three battles under their belts, they felt good. Great even. The Scatterbug from the previous night, plus a Fletchling and another Scatterbug were all defeated. Admittedly, the flying-type was much more difficult that expected, seeing as it had the air advantage and was wicked fast. They barely managed to beat it, only with the helps of Fake Tears did they win. But, now there was even more motivation to get stronger, as well as Spencer may finally admit that potions helped. After rounding the next corner, they saw a boy through the trees. He was taking slow steps through the tall grass, looking around for something. With Spencer perched on her shoulder, and the egg in a protective hug, she passed through the trees and right into the boy’s view.   
“Aha! So another falls into my trap! I challenge you to a battle!” He shouted, probably a couple years younger than Everest, his red cap on backwards and his blonde, shaggy hair hanging in his face.   
“Challenge accepted! My name’s Everest by the way.” She introduced and set the egg by her feet. She was nervous to fight in her first official battle, but she trusted Spencer.  
“Austin, the champ! Come on out Zigzagoon!” He laughed happily, and his pokemon was revealed. He nodded towards the pokemon perched on her shoulder. “Fighting with that one?” Austin asked curiously, in truth he had never seen that type before.   
“Yes, I choose you Spencer!” The pokemon jumped off her shoulder and onto the grass. “And, let’s confuse them.” She grinned, and as directed, the Zorua’s image changed into a Zigzagoon.  
“Woah. How’d you do that?” He asked, frozen in shock. So, the girls took their chance to make their move.   
“Use pursuit!” The Zorua took off, hitting right on her target. The Zigzagoon cried out in surprise, meanwhile the illusion pokemon retreated to wait for the next move.   
“Zigzagoon, growl.” Austin pointed, still visibly shaken. Austin’s Zigzagoon followed orders, and the intimidating growl rang out over the field, even from such a small creature Everest shivered as the fangs glinted in the light.  
“Don’t let yourself be outdone Spencer, scratch.”With great speed, Zorua took off and dove for the other pokemon. Slashing right across the striped pokemon’s face, it collapsed to the ground, whining pitifully. Austin rose his hand, recalling the injured pokémon.   
“Return. Nice, that is some neat trick you got there.” Austin smiled and offered a hand to the girl. Everest smiled and shook his hand.  
“Thank you, it’s actually her ability.” Everest explained, and Zorua went back to normal. It licked Austin’s leg in greeting before going back to her trainer’s arms. “Thank you for the battle, I haven’t ever battled a trainer before.” Her admittance earned her a shocked face.  
“Really? I couldn’t tell! Good luck on your journey.” He smiled before waving, he was headed out. “Don’t go into the woods unprepared!” Everest nodded to him in thanks before facing the unknown, the dark trees welcomed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, a little less exciting, but it will pick up soon.


	4. Santalune Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everest and Spencer enter Santalune forest, and take the time to train up Spencer’s Illusion. While inside, they find a mysterious item.

“I’ve heard that it’s really easy to get lost in here.” Everest muttered after a few minutes inside. She would be scared if she didn’t have Spencer next to her, the shadows seemed to be absorbed by them. The Zorua murmured her agreements as they walked along, the sun was blocked by the tall trees. There were plenty of worn down trails by pokémon and travelers, but the sign that pointed the way out was faded to the point where you couldn’t read it.  
They were content to walk along in silence, able to relax. Now that they weren’t in the baking sun, walking was actually enjoyable. Continuing exploring, they heard some rustles in the grass. Both trainers stopped to watch a yellow Pokemon emerge, its tail shaped like a lightning bolt. In response, Spencer changed her shape to echo the pokemon, and Everest held up her PDex to find out more about what she was pretty sure to be a Pikachu.   
“Pikachu, the mouse Pokemon. When several of these Pokemon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms.” The mechanical voice spoke, and the wild Pikachu hopped closer to check Spencer out. Remaining still, she certainly didn’t want to provoke it, no doubt the thunderbolts Pikachu were famed for would be devastating to her.   
It squeaked, and bounced up and down, before suddenly shooting an arc of lightning towards Spencer. The Zorua cried in in shock, just barely dodging the attack, and instead fell to the ground in a puff of dust, unsure of how Pikachu movements worked was her best guess.  
“Spencer, scratch!” Spencer raced forward towards the Pikachu, claws glowing as she bounded forwards in a new body. But because of that, she was a little unfamiliar in it, and so she stumbled a little.   
The real Pikachu let loose a thunderbolt, which easily hit Spencer. Everest winced as her friend jolted and her form went back to the normal grey and red. Besides a little fur burnt, Spencer proved to be okay, only pissed.   
“Pursuit, then use scratch.” With a dark shadow and renewed strength, her dark type took off towards the Pikachu. Pikachu was fast, and began running away, but Spencer chased after it, and increased speed with Pursuit. With a dark flash (if that was even a thing) Spencer appeared in Pikachu’s path, and rammed right into it. The pokemon cried out as it fell back, and Spencer took a couple swipes at it, and it fell back unconscious.  
“Nice job.” Everest smiled, then bent down beside both Pokemon. Getting out the potion, she sprayed a little on both wherever there were wounds. First centering on the Pikachu, she sprayed a particularly rough scratch on its side. Call it dumb, but she didn’t want to leave it defenseless to the same dangers she was exposed to.   
After a few moments, Spencer was basically all healed up, and the electric type was blinking awake. It angrily hissed and ran off, shooting a small spark at Spencer before it disappeared into the bushes. Spencer easily dodged it before changing into a Pikachu once more.  
“Thats a good idea, Spence. You should get used to as many different types of Pokemon as possible.” Everest nodded and laughed a little as her Pokemon stumbled about on two leg instead of four. “Wanna make sure we can convince people of your trick.” Spencer growled, but nodded anyways. “I think this will be the perfect place to get used to different pokemon, especially those that are common around here. There have to be plenty of pokemon in these woods.” With that, Spencer and Everest continued along their way, not having a real clue of how to leave the forest, but happily anyways, getting used to the bodies of different pokemon.

After awhile of wandering through the trees, Everest coughed as a putrid smell entered her nose. Fear bubbled in her stomach as she continued forward, already predicting what she would find. Managing to part a particularly thick bush, she and Spencer jumped through. At the foot of a tree was what Everest expected to find. The remains of two creatures, heavily decayed and…consumed. As far as she could tell, maybe Panpour, but the tree similar species were hard to determine from each other in the rate of decomposition like this.   
Even in a low power forest like this, there shouldn’t have been destruction like this, she slowly realized. Trees were ripped to shreds around them, fully grown oak trees had holes eaten through them only powerful poison type moves could have pulled off, nothing a Weedle could have handled. Huge gashes in the ground were filled with the previous night’s rainwater, maybe claws or a tail created these. The Panpour didn’t stand a chance. Spencer nudged Everest’s pant leg, sensing her uneasiness.   
“Yeah, we should get going.” She did her best to ignore the empty nest behind the dead pokémon, where five eggs had left indents, stolen by whatever had killed them. She spent the rest of the day on edge while checking the Dex, searching for anything that could have done that. She didn’t find anything.

Three days later, they were still hopelessly lost, but were getting better at copying the different forms of Pokemon they’ve seen.  
There were also a plethora of trainers in these woods, every single one were surprised at Zorua, but told Everest they hadn’t ever seen one before, and don’t know about them. So, the trainer hadn’t learned anything new about her companion yet. But, that didn’t stop them from defeating pretty much everyone they came across. The only one they lost to was a girl who had two pokemon, a Weedle and a Bunnelby. She was kind enough to give Everest a revive once she realized Everest didn’t have another pokemon.   
“When you get to Lumiose City, you should buy a couple revives. They may be expensive, but they’re totally worth it. Good for when you’re in the wilderness for awhile.” The girl grinned as Spencer awoke.   
“Thank you, do you by chance know how to get to Route 3?” The blonde girl had to think about that for a few moments before nodding. She pointed to the west, instead of north which was the way the had been going.  
“There’s a trick to it, you head west before north. That’s the fastest way out. Have a good rest of your trip. When you’re stronger, challenge me again, or maybe just when you get more Pokemon.” She grinned before waving and walking away.   
“Thanks again!” Everest shouted before picking up Spencer. With an egg in one hand, and Spencer in her other, she began to walk west.   
After a little while, Spencer managed to regain her strength, and instead took her place on Everest’s shoulder, snoozing lightly. Walking in silence, Everest looked around, seeing the smaller pokemon wandering around.   
Most of the pokemon around here were pretty young, and therefor inexperienced. Most of them didn’t find battling very interesting, and left Everest alone for the most part. The ones that did weren’t very powerful, and Spencer could defeat them.  
“Woah, do you see that?” Everest exclaimed, off the side of one of the paths, something shiny was glimmering in the sunlight. Spencer adjusted on her shoulder to get a glimpse, and Everest ran to the mystery item. Some leaves and dirt were covering what looked kind of like a huge marble. Bright yellow, with red, orange and blue swirled inside. It was about the size of an oran berry. Spencer squeaked curiously and nudged the item.  
There was a weird aura coming off of the item, some sort of powerful essence. She gently brushed off some of the dirt, and examined the item with curiosity. It didn’t look like anything she had ever seen before, certainly couldn’t be natural.  
“I wonder what this is.” Everest mumbled, and her partner squeaked in her ear. “ I wonder if the Pokédex says anything about it.” Digging around in her pocket, she tried to find the device that has since redeemed itself since her first use of it. Finally, her fingers clasped around the cool metal, and flipped it open.   
“A mysterious stone with a strange aura.” It beeped, and Everest frowned in return. Sighing, she put the device back in her pocket, but held onto the stone.   
“Maybe we’ll find someone who knows what it is. Let’s keep moving!” She exclaimed, and Spencer cheered as well, excited for the future, because who know what lies beyond the known.


	5. Route 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The egg finally hatches, and Everest must learn to train two pokémon at once.

They had finally made it out of the Santalune Forest, and both were exhausted. The human was dragging her bag on the ground. Spencer had hopped on the bag a half a mile back without the human noticing and was snoozing away. After days of being lost in the forest, loosing sleep from all the crazy pokémon and trainers around every corner, they were about to collapse until they saw day breaking through the trees.   
“Let’s just camp here.” Everest decided after awhile, plopping down behind some bushes. “You brat.” She mumbled affectionately once she spotted the sleeping Zorua. Placing Spencer down on her sweatshirt, she unpacked her sleeping bag and didn’t even bother changing. They would find a pokémon center in the morning and wash everything. 

Later on, before the sun had even risen, a bright light was shinning in Everest’s eyes. With a groan she hid her face in the blankets, and she blindly tried to push away the light.   
“Spence, stop shining that light at me.” She mumbled, but someone was nudging her side. Curling in on herself, she wanted to stay asleep. “I’m tired.” She complained before forcing her eyes open.   
“Zor, zorrr.” She growled impatiently at Everest, and her trainer could sense the urgency in her voice. Sitting up, she gasped in surprise. Eyes wide, she scrambled to leave her nest. The egg was pulsing a white light.   
“Oh Arceus! It’s happening! Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked and took the warm egg into her grip. Spencer huffed in annoyance, but curled into her trainer’s grip, watching the egg in excitement.   
Their hearts were beating fast, in sync, as they held their breath. This was something neither had seen before, and they were so engaged. With one last burst of light, Everest could feel soft fur in her hands. Once their eyes adjusted, soft brown eyes were looking into Everest’s. The small Eevee was so soft, and nuzzled Everest’s hands in contempt, already imprinting on the trainer.  
“Eeeee.” It cooed, blinking slowly and licking the awestruck Everest. Zorua quickly began licking the messy tuft on the Eevee’s head, making sure it was warm.   
“Oh, you’re so cute.” Everest exclaimed, nuzzling the soft fur. “I’m Everest, and this is Spencer.” The Eevee gave the dark pokémon a look of awestruck, then continued to cuddle. Suddenly, it sat up, scrunched its nose, and sneezed. A cool mist enveloped them, earning a surprised look from the companions, and the pokedex was pulled out.  
“Mist, an ice type move. The user cloaks itself and its allies in a white mist that prevents any of their stats from being lowered for five turns.” The pokémon in question just began biting Spencer’s tail, who ignored it and looked at the strange Eevee. “Eevee, a rare Pokemon that adapts to harsh environments by taking on different evolutionary forms.”   
“Mist isn’t a move Eevees can learn.” Suddenly very awake, Everest’s grin grew and hugged her two partner Pokemon. “This is so cool! Do you like the name Icee?”  
“Eevee!” It squeaked, nuzzling the trainer’s chin. “Eeeeev.” With a low whine it pounced on Zorua, tugging at her ear. And Everest could almost hear the battling thoughts in Spencer’s head. She pulled out the heal ball and pressed it to the pokemon’s head. Sucked into the device, it didn’t even shake, and went immediately into her cache. She caught an eevee.

When dawn actually came, all three were passed out, the pokemon deep in the sleeping bag, Everest’s bag used as a pillow. As the sun continued to rise, as the world awoke, movement could be seen within the scarlet bag.   
“Eeeeee.” A fluffy brown head poked out of the sleeping bag. New eyes searched the morning sky, before it ran on shaky legs into the open. “Eee eve Eevee! Veee.” Her screeches filled the air, and the other occupants of the sleeping bag jolted up.  
Everest’s worried eyes fell to the small form of the Eevee, prancing around, spinning in circles as she chased her tail. Taking a deep breath, the new trainer calmed herself and smiled at her newest pokémon. A curious Azurill bounced to over to Icee, and the baby began batting at the blue tail.  
Seeing as the baby was safe for now, Everest decided she should research a bit about her newest Pokémon. Pulling out the Dex, she tapped on moves.  
“Hm. Says Icee knows protect, tackle, and mist.” Speaking to Spencer, the dark type pokemon got up and walked to Icee. Everest watched their interaction. The Azurill was fondly playing with the baby pokémon, who was now chasing a bubble the wild pokémon produced.   
The three creatures played for a couple hours before Icee fell asleep, passed out in Everest’s arms. In thanks, Everest gave the Azurill a couple berries before they left their campsite. After a week on the road, Everest was now running low on supplies. And with twice as many companions as before, she needed to be ready. According to the maps on the trails, Santalune City was at the end of this road.   
“There’s a gym in the city ahead. Wanna battle?” Everest asked the two creatures who walked beside her. She had no idea what to expect, but they would go in together. Spencer chirped happily in agreement, and Everest knew they had to come up with a plan.   
She didn’t want to loose, yes, she knew that no one ever did, but she didn’t want to fail her newest friends. She didn’t want to risk loosing everything. Everest wanted to become strong enough for anyone who needed her help.  
“Okay, considering the Dex doesn’t have you, it’s safe to assume that they don’t know about your kind. So, I think we should always go in with you in disguise.” Her reasoning was sound, and some planning was better than none. “So, since you always loose the disguise after you receive damage, I think no matter what, you should use Fake Tears, that way they are super caught off guard.” Her words were quiet enough so that she didn’t wake Icee. “And, one other thing. I want to teach you a move, a couple Pokémon at my old house knew this move.”

The next day, Everest decided today would be the perfect day to teach Spencer Aerial Ace. The previous night they had found a spacious clearing and set up camp. Now, with the sun high enough in the sky, and all three were awake enough, they could begin real training.  
Icee would just be watching for now, she was too young, and Everest wouldn’t have the Eevee learn how to battle until at least she was a month old unless something important happened. Pokémon emerged from their eggs ready to battle, but she wanted to savor the innocence in the small Eevee for now.   
Of course, she wasn’t exactly sure how to teach a pokémon a move, but she was willing to try. Icee sat on Everest’s lap, very clingy after imprinting. Spencer at at the trainer’s feet, looking over the other two.  
“So, Aerial Ace is a flying type move, so, it might be easiest to learn with wings.” Why not take advantage of her ability, right? With a chirp, she turned into a Fletchling, much to Icee’s surprise. Everest laughed as Icee began to run after Spencer, and the Zorua struggled to fly away quickly enough. “Icee, come here. Spencer is learning a move.” Icee chirped happily and came back to Everest’s hold.   
While distracting the Eevee with pets, she pulled out the video she found last night, maybe if her dark type watched another using the move she could pick up on it. It was a flying-type from the Kanto region, she thought to be called Farfetch’d. In a flash of light and incredible speed, the bird pokemon dove down at a practice dummy, wings shining.   
“I think you should be able to jump once you pick up speed, see, you strike down and then quickly up.” 

After about an hour, Spencer finally got it down. It had been much easier with wings, the majority of the time was to get it down in her normal form. Icee on the other hand was very enthusiastic. If it wasn’t impossible for her to learn it, she certainly would have, after running around and trying to copy Spencer. In short, a lot of running was done, and all parties were exhausted half way through the day.   
So, now, underneath the shade of a tall tree, Spencer and Everest watched Icee with fondness as she tried to sneak up on a sleeping Caterpie. Her butt was high in the air as she stalked forward, tail waving in the wind. Spencer was watching carefully, ready to spring up if Icee needed to be helped.   
Everest wasn’t worried, Eevee were herbivores, so most likely, Icee was just looking for a playmate. And Caterpie were peaceful (for the most part), so they could relax under the shade and digest their lunch. Careful and quiet steps helped Icee reach the Caterpie, and then she jumped. When awoke from its nap, the Caterpie gurgled angrily, and tackled Icee. With a painful cry, the Eevee was thrown backwards, and Everest winced. Spencer growled and changed into a Fearow. Everest didn’t stop her when the dark-type charged forward and snarled at the bug, sticking her beak into the bug type before Spencer picked up the baby gingerly by the scruff, and brought her back to Everest.   
“You need to be careful who you attack.” Everest reprimanded gently, but thankful she learned her lesson now, than later on when she had the opportunity to challenge a much bigger opponent. Taking the little baby, she ran over the fur making sure she really didn’t have any actual injuries.   
“Don’t worry Spencer, she’s okay. Probably more shock value.” Cooing over the soft brown fur, she quieted the whimpers, looking into the big brown eyes. “You’ll be okay. In time you’ll get enough strength.” Icee cuddled into the warmth of her trainer’s arms, and Spencer changed back and began grooming the brown fur. Looks like Spencer’s mothering instincts kicked in, silently, Everest wondered how old Spencer is.   
Reaching into her bag, she found the few berries she had collected earlier, the ones she hadn’t replanted. Icee seemed to like the Cherri berries more than Oran, and gobbled them up.   
“Alright, Spencer, we’re going to have to figure out our next stage, I heard that the gym we’re traveling to is a bug type, which means you’re going to have to dodge basically every attack. Here’s what I’m thinking.”


	6. Santalune City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle of the Santalune Gym, dark versus bug.

Now, Everest walked into Santalune City with two identical Eevees dancing around her feet. One was excitedly chasing the other, who was doing her best to avoid any attacks.  
“Icee, leave Spencer alone. I’ll carry you.” Holding out her arms, Icee jumped into her arms and spoke in mumbles that Everest had yet to understand.   
Citizens of the city watched this newcomer enter their city with not one, but two Eevees. They were so rare, that they theorized she must be from a different region. One citizen in particular was very interested in the brown haired girl. She held a camera up to her eyes, and snapped a few pictures of the team as they passed her on the sidewalk. The pure adoration in the trainer’s eyes was something she loved to see.  
“Here it is guys.” Everest sighed before walking into the familiar red roofed building. Inside was a kind loving woman with pink hair, and a Wigglytuff. “Hello, do you have any free rooms?”   
“Oh yes, would you like me to check over your Eevees? They certainly are beautiful.” Nurse Joy smiled to Everest who placed Icee on the counter.   
“Yes please. She just hatched.” Everest smiled and pet the soft tufts of fur. Joy’s eyes grew wider, and somehow more loving as she looked over the pokemon.   
“How wonderful. Here’s your keys. She should be ready in thirty minutes or so.” Handed the metallic key, Everest bade her new pokemon farewell for now, and what sounded like assurances from Spencer. They quickly put their items in the room before heading outside to the battlefield to practice their new move. 

The next few days were filled with relaxation and prepping for the upcoming gym battle. Everest even bought new clothes that were more suited for her travels. Now, she wore a black dress hat with a red bow that matched Spencer’s coloring. She had a black leather jacket, red and black shirt, and a black shorts. Accented with black boots and a grey backpack, she felt ready to face anything. She had used all the money she won during battles, plus those weird mushrooms she sold in the store.   
At the moment, she was talking to one of the townspeople about the gym leader. Some she befriended her first day here, and had given her a Luxury Ball as a gift.   
“Yeah, she uses bug types. But she normally changes up which ones all the time. So, hopefully your Eevees can handle bugs. Good thing they’re normal ‘cause if they were dark or grass you would be doomed.” He chuckled while sipping his coffee, meanwhile Everest laughed uneasily.  
“Yeah, good thing.” She mumbled, before checking her watch. “Oh no! is that the time? I promised Nurse Joy I would meet her at 10. Thanks for the help!” Everest yelled as she ran down the streets, what appeared as two Eevees following her.   
Running and out of breath, she made it to the center with one minute to spare. Hands on her knees, she fought to catch her breath before making her way to the counter.   
“Hello Nurse Joy.” She smiled at the pink haired woman, who kindly nodded back.   
“Everest! Right on time. Now, you’re all registered, and here’s the delivery you asked for.” A brown parcel was handed to Everest, who gladly handed over the money.   
“Thank you! Wish me luck!” Everest yelled out before running out the doors. All three were bouncing with energy, so excited to have this match. As they approached the huge gallery, Everest took a seat on a bench and began to unwrap the parcel.   
Inside were a few curious items. There was a white scarf, glittering in the sunlight. A small beak that must have come from far away lands held up by a chain, and a few purple and red bottles. The potions were put into her bag.   
“Icee. I’m not sure if you’ll have to battle, but just in case, okay?” The normal typed Pokemon had only been in mock battles against Spencer, but stood still as her trainer tied the white scarf around her neck. Next, Spencer, still holding the disguise of an Eevee got the chain around her neck, only for it to be covered up by the ruffles of fur around her neck. “Are you guys ready?” She asked with a smile before leading her team into the gym.   
Inside was beautiful, so many picture lined the walls, all wonderfully taken, but focused mainly on bug Pokemon. Walking around, Everest examined them in awe, they were so beautiful. So far, she really liked one of a Beautifly.   
“Hi, can I help you?” A voice came from behind Everest, and she put on a brave face. Turning around, she was met with a blonde who had a camera around her neck. Must have been the artist, which made her the gym leader as well.   
“Hey, um, I was wondering if I could challenge the gym leader.” Gripping the straps of her backpack, she nervously smiled at her competitor.   
“Of course. I’m the gym leader here. My name’s Viola.” The gym leader examined her opponent. She must have been a new trainer. That certain gleam of determination, the naiveness in her posture. Viola was often the first gym that was battled, so she was used to the look. Although, she may not be completely new if one of her pokemon had a silk scarf on.   
“Everest.” Nodding in approval, Viola led the way to the battlefield.   
Everest was gazing up in awe at the greenhouse, it was so beautiful. Trees towered over everything, flowers blooming everywhere you looked. Lights hung from the ceiling like plants, and already Everest had an idea.   
“This is so beautiful.” Everest murmured while looking around, her Pokemon nodded in agreement, and thankfully Viola didn’t catch the small “Zor.”   
“Why thank you. I take great pride in my home. Now you can have this side.” She pointed to the guest side, and Everest stood there, examining everything. The glint in her eye Viola missed which she would later pay for. “My assistant here will officiate. But, I want to ask you, have you ever had a gym battle before?” Everest blushed at the thought she could tell, and shook her head. She didn’t need Viola to get in her head.   
“The gym battle between Everest the challenger, and Viola the Santalune gym leader will now begin. Each side will have the use of two pokemon, and the battle will be over when either trainer’s pokemon are unable to continue. Only the challenger may substitute Pokemon.” The woman who looked an awful lot like a Burmy announced, and now the battle would begin.  
“I always have my lens focused on victory no matter what. Surskit, go!” The blonde yelled, and a small blue Pokemon was released onto the field. Needing to know everything possible, Everest took up her Pdex and focused it on the bug pokemon.   
“Surskit, the pond skater Pokemon. Surskit can walk on water as if it were skating. It attracts prey with a sweet aroma it produces.” The voice said, and she made a mental note to not get too close to smell it.   
“Bug and Water type. Alright, let’s go Spencer!” Everest decided, and she ran onto the field.   
“Now battle, begin!” Viola grinned as she watched the rookie tense up, she was about to wipe the floor with her. It was her job to make sure kids took these battles seriously and treated their partners with respect.   
“Spencer, don’t let it get the upper hand. Use scratch!” Everest announced, and Viola grinned, already playing into her trap. Had the gym leader not been so cocky, she would have realized Eevees cannot learn scratch.  
“Quick, protect!” The bug pokémon was protected well before Spencer even got in close, and Everest bit back a groan of annoyance. But at least now she knew one of the moves and she couldn’t surprise her. Spencer was thrown back as she it the protect wall, but landed on her feet.   
“Stand your ground, leer.” Everest commanded, and Viola smirked, leering wasn’t going to do any good in a moment, so she let it land.  
“Surskit, use ice beam and cover the field.” That move really surprised Everest, and as ordered, the blue beam quickly covered the ground.   
“Don’t get hit!” Everest yelled, now was not the time. They needed to work in total secrecy until they had her trapped. In no time, every inch was covered in ice.  
“Aaaa.” Spencer agreed before slipping to the side. The ice gave zero traction, and unless Everest figured out a way to combat it, they were toast. Now, Eevees and Zoruas didn’t have very tractable paws… but, Spencer did have scratch…  
“What a picture perfect field. Surskit, let’s go!” The gym leader announced, and the blue pokemon began moving in circles around Spencer, taunting her. She would pay dearly for that, for allowing Everest even more time to plan out her next move.  
“Spence, don’t let yourself get caught in the taunt. Use scratch to find traction in the ice.” Viola was surprised to hear the orders, and that they may actually work. However, if that Eevee was using Scratch on the ground, Surskit couldn’t be scratched at the same time. “Then use Aerial Ace.” Like the wind was knocked out of her, she watched as the Eevee took off down the field, claws shining, and Surskit was unable to change directions, and got hit.   
By the time the smoke cleared, Surskit laid on the ground, fainted, and the Eevee was firmly planted in the ice.   
“Surskit is unable to battle, Spencer wins.” Burmy lady announced, and Everest smiled at her pokemon. One down, one to go.   
Meanwhile, Viola’s mind was racing a mile a minute. How… last she knew, Eevee’s couldn’t learn Aerial Ace. No matter, she had her own ace.  
“Return Surskit, take a good rest. Let’s do this Vivillon!” The butterfree-like Pokemon rose in he air, its patterned wings flapping effortlessly.   
“Vivillon, the scale pokemon. Vivillon are skillfully able to find a source of water, it has been said you’ll find a spring if you follow a Vivillon.” So, that wasn’t any help for Everest. But, it didn’t necessarily say anything bad for her either.   
“Okay Spencer, use Aerial Ace.” Everest hoped that her pokemon could get up there, but there was doubt in her mind.   
“Vivillon, use psychic!”Viola shouted, smirking, cause her opponent wasn’t going to go unscathed after this. The gym leader’s pokemon’s eyes lit up, as it prepared the attack, but instead, Spencer kept moving unaffected. “What the- DODGE!” Viola screamed the last bit, but it was too late as the strange Eevee landed its mark on the flying pokemon. Vivillon fell to the ground, with Spencer landing on top unhurt. “How is this possible?”  
“Nice job Spencer!” Everest shouted, and Viola was loosing her patience, just who was this girl? She would just have to use her next move.  
“Use gust!” The pokemon picked itself up off the ice, and the eve couldn’t run any longer, and got swept up by gust. Then, it all clicked into place once she saw the flickering form of a Zorua. The Pokemon was pathetically thrown to the side as her attack stopped, and Viola’s heart clenched when she saw tears in the dark-type’s eyes.   
“Checkmate. Use pursuit.” Everest grinned, and it was then Viola realized it wasn’t the gym leader making the rookie fall into her trap, this rookie was intelligent, and she had let her ego wander right into it’s trap. She couldn’t even do anything as the dark type grinned and attacked her pokemon.   
“Vivillon is unable to battle, which means Everest is the victor.” Burmy woman announced, and Everest took that as her cue to hug her pokemon. She couldn’t believe it, they won, Spencer did it! Smiling and laughing in pure joy, the new trainer pet both her pokemon, and they basked in the attention. Only when a shadow came over Everest did she look up.  
“Congratulations. I’ll admit that I made a mistake and became too confident. Thank you for checking my ego. You took me by surprise.” Viola smiled at the girl, holding out her hand. In it was a shiny copper badge, and the trainer took it gleefully.  
“Do you know what Spencer is?” Everest asked, nodding to the Zorua on the ground beside her. Viola simply kneeled down and pet the Zorua.  
“I’m originally from Unova, where these guys are usually found. Haven’t seen one in a long while though. Clever.” Viola smiled and gave the girl a true smile. “We need a rematch one day. here, let me update your PDex, you can’t always use this as your wining card, one day, everyone will be familiar with Zorua.” 

Upon leaving the gym, she nearly ran into a girl, a couple years younger than her, no doubt a citizen of the city. Her eyes were wide with awe as she looked at Everest and her pokemon.  
“You just beat Viola!” She yelled excitedly, jumping up and down. Everest smiled and nodded before pulling the girl to the bench beside the gym.  
“I only won because of my friends. Do you want to be a Pokemon trainer?” Everest smiled lightly, and Spencer jumped up and allowed for the young girl to pet her.   
“Yeah! I’ve always wanted a Fennekin, they’re so pretty! Do you have a pair of rollerblades?” She suddenly asked, but with a slight lisp from missing two teeth.   
“No… why do you ask?” She smiled even brighter, and shot up, beckoning for Everest to follow her.   
“My dad sells rollerblades, and they’re the bestest way to get around. He has a prototype he needs someone to try.” Pulled into a small shop beside the gym, Everest followed obediently, it’s not like she had anything better to do anyways. She let the girl blather on as they waited for her father to show up, and as promised, a man with salt-pepper hair showed, polishing a set of what looked to be metal wheels.   
“Ah! Rinka! Who’s your friend?” Everest got the sense that he was wise beyond his years, and she nodded in respect.  
“Daddy! She just beat Viola with only one Pokemon! She’s really strong.” She insisted through missing teeth, and Everest tried to deny it.   
“Well, since you’re here, I don’t suppose I could trouble you with a favor?” The man began, before bending behind the counter which was stocked with different trainer supplies.   
“I don’t mind helping, whatever it is.” The older girl nodded and walked closer, observing the busy shop with interest.  
“See, I don’t know what my daughter said, but, I’m competing with another shop, just in Lumiose City, they sell bikes, but I Think that rollerblades could become very popular.” He began, and pulled out really sleek looking black and silver rollerblades. “See, I made it so you don’t need to wear them everywhere, they automatically build into training boots.” He began before moving out from behind the counter. “You click your heels-” As he did so, she was amazed to see them click out, and he now was wearing rollerblades instead of boots. “And you now have rollerblades. Much easier to carry around than a bike if you ask me. But, I need someone to show them off, advertising you might say. And if you’re a traveling trainer, you could meet all kinds of people and show them.” He had hope gleaming in his eyes, and Everest was happy to take up the offer.  
“Okay! They look pretty cool! I could use a speed boost.” Nodding enthusiastically, she sat down at the tool bench. “Can they be added to these?”


	7. Route 4 + Lumiose City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Speed training, and a chance to meet the professor of the Kalos region.

Route 4

“Good luck Everest!” Rinka waved and smiled with her father holding her hand and waving with the other.   
“Don’t forget to come back!” He shouted after the trainer who had finally managed to get twelve yards without falling. She had the family’s contact in her Pdex, and she intended to return when she could confidently ride the rollerblades. Icee and Spencer were following her obediently, giving her room in case she did fall.  
“Okay guys, I have a plan. Let’s stay on Route 4 until I get a handle on these things, that way, we can race and battle at high speeds, boost your evasion.”  
Through the next days, she got faster and faster. Yes, her muscles screamed every morning after using her legs to the extreme, but every day, the burn was lessened. Along with her, Spencer and Icee got faster too after having to keep up with their trainer.   
A few of the people she had passed on the route had stopped her to ask where she got the rollerblades, and she pointed them in the right direction, hopefully her pals would be getting business. Along the cobblestone paths, there were hedge mazes, which they took time to explore as well, although, without wheels.   
Sometimes they could see a couple fairy types, and plenty of grass types, but they remained on their path, solely focused on getting faster.   
Route 4 wasn’t all that amazing. It was a heavily trafficked area due to the proximity to their capital, so there weren’t too many wild pokémon, but, there were plenty of trainers. Most they managed to beat, one Everest even let Icee battle because it was a Magikarp. But, five days later, they made it to the huge gates leading to the City of Light.

Lumiose City

“Woah, would ya look at this place.” Everest murmured, astounded by the vastness of the city. Huge buildings loomed over them, but even taller than them was the tower, bright against the sunny sky.  
The streets were built for walking, and only a few cars even were cleared to drive around here. Streets were lined with people, and excitement stirred in Everest’s stomach. She was well aware that there was a gym here, but she wasn’t quite sure if her team was ready to take it on. Nonetheless, they could explore the city. The rollerblades gave her an amazing advantage.  
“Alright guys, try and keep up!” Everest grinned and took off, her pokemon hot on her heels. She was careful to avoid people, weaving in and out of slow tourists.   
With a grin on her face, she easily took the outside ring of the city. Excited yips and squeaks behind her confirmed her pokemon were behind her, and she took that as the okay to go even faster. The breaks in cobblestone made vibrations in her knees, cheers from small children echoed in her ears as she passed them, and she nearly jumped in fright when a familiar weight landed on her shoulder.   
“Hey Icee!” She smiled at the Eevee who had somehow caught up to her. She was panting but nonetheless squeaked back, and Everest looked back at the path just in time to see a man right in her path. “Protect!” She managed to shout as she tried to break, and then impact. Luckily she had seen two spheres of green go up in between them, protecting the stranger and herself.   
With a groan she managed to sit up, two pokemon encouraging her movement. Suddenly, a pale hand appeared in her vision, so she looked up.   
“Hello, sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going.” The man smiled, who she realized what the Pokemon professor of Kalos.  
“Oh mew, I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking either Professor.” She managed and took his hand. Clicking her heels together, they seamlessly fit back into her boots. “We were racing.” She tried to explain, and her other pokemon jumped up onto her hat. Mostly everyone in Kalos knew who he was, and respected him, so he didn’t even blink that she knew who he was.  
“No matter. Oh wow, what beautiful pokemon you have, would you mind if you came back to my lab with me? That Eevee must be pretty spectacular to be able to form two protect barriers.” He asked kindly, and she got the impression he wouldn’t be offended if she declined.  
“Sure! My name is Everest by the way.” She followed beside him, Icee squirming to try and sniff the professor. She could almost feel the uneasiness Spencer got from watching everyone around her trainer, she had gotten rather protective lately. A sign that her evolution was approaching quickly as her hormones changed. “So, I know that you’re the Pokemon Professor of Kalos.” Everest began, and Sycamore looked at her respectfully as he opened the door to a huge building. “But what do you do exactly?” The black haired man seemed to find her question hilarious, as he broke out in laughter, but still managed to guide her through the entry of his lab.  
“Well, my name is indeed Professor Sycamore, and my lab specializes in evolution and everything about the different changes in pokemon, like when Deerling change according to seasons.” He explained. Everest looked around in interest around them, plenty of machines whirred and beeped around them. “I also give out starter Pokemon to those who ask.” Awhile ago, Everest had thought about trying to get a starter from him, but she determined that she only wanted pokemon that she caught herself, not given.   
As they continued through the huge maze of corridors and stairwells, they made it to a greenhouse that was filled with pokemon. Icee immediately jumped from her hold and began playing with a tiny Oddish. Spencer watched her carefully, along with Everest who was a little worried about their newest team member. Nonetheless, she stood beside the professor as he began checking out the pokemon that lived in the greenhouse.  
“Can I ask where you found your Eevee?” He asked after a little while, Everest had finally gotten a nervous Belsprout to come out so she could pet it.  
“It had been my mother’s, he had gotten the egg from a friend of hers in Kanto. The egg was passed to me, Icee hatched almost three weeks ago.” She smiled fondly and fed the grass-type a berry from her bag before she called for her Eevee. “Icee!” The excited pokemon burst from the bushes and knocked Spencer over.   
The Zorua playfully growled at it, rolling over and nudging the baby in the side before getting up and prancing around. Thanks to their speed training, Icee was evenly matched in speed, making the game even more exciting.   
“And your Zorua? They aren’t very common around here.” He frowned, trying to recall if there had been any sightings of them around Kalos recently.  
“On Route 1, she saved me from a Fearow.” Sycamore saved that information for later, he would look into it, so this must be the orphaned girl from Vaniville, after all, she was the only one who had recently set off on a adventure.   
“Well, isn’t that amazing! If you ever need anything, or find a sudden desire to help in research, don’t feel shy.” He grinned, noticing the gentleness she had when dealing with unfair pokemon, he didn’t have a doubt in his mind she could turn out to be a very good Pokemon Ranger.  
“Can I ask you about something I found in Santalune Forest?” Everest decided that this was probably one of the best figures to ask. He seemed knowledgeable, she searched her bag for the strange stone. Finally her fingers closed around the cool surface, which seemed to pulse in her grip. Holding it up for the professor to see, his eyes grew wide, and he seemed to have to fight himself from snatching it from her.  
“Oh, this is truly astounding.” He mumbled as he graciously took it from the new trainer. Everest was glad at least someone knew what it was. “This is called a Mega Stone. I’ve been researching it recently actually.” Voice full of awe, he got out a magnifying glass to examine it better. Everest listened closely to the professor, completely enraptured. “There are legends of Pokemon evolving past their final evolution. It isn’t permanent like other evolutions, but it brings them untold power. According to records, you have to have a Mega stone that matches the pokemon, as well as a Key stone.”  
While she didn’t really understand everything the professor was saying, she was still interested. Knowledge is power. Suddenly, as if hit with a thunderbolt, the professor shot up and looked back to Everest with a grin.  
“Follow me!” Taking off in a run, Everest began to jog in order to keep up. “Sophie! Cosette! Get a load of this!” Two women turned the corner, worried looks on their faces.   
“What’s wrong Professor? Did Gible get out again?” The bluentte asked worriedly, looking around for some unseen stressor.  
“Everest found a Mega Stone!” He yelled excitedly like a little kid, nearly jumping up and down in joy. Meanwhile, one of his assistants grinned, the other had a pissed look on her face and slapped the Professor on the back of the head.  
“You can’t go around shouting in here. You nearly gave me a heartattack.” She frowned disapprovingly, but then turned to the young trainer. “This is quite a find, nice work.” Smile soft, she then snatched it from the professor to examine it. Meanwhile, the professor looked a kid who couldn’t have dessert.  
“Sophie, but it’s so astounding!” He whined, but Sophie ignored him, meanwhile the more positive of assistants shook Everest’s hand.  
“Thank you, thank you! This should progress our research immensely!” She grinned, and Everest was wondering what was so special about a big marble, even if the professor even told her what he thought it to be.  
“Everest, would you mind making a deal with us?” Sophie asked after a few moments of examining it, deciding it was genuine. After a small nod, Sophie took out her PDA. “If you were willing to lend it to us-” Everest nearly burst out in laughter, and stopped the woman right there.  
“Well, neither of my pokemon are even fully evolved yet, I don’t have any interest in it, at least, not right now. You guys can have it.” Rendered speechless, all three scientists were frozen on the spot, to the point where Everest was worried she had broken them. After a few moments of awkward silence, she found herself taken into a huge group hug by three almost-strangers.

Later that night, Everest found herself wandering the streets of Lumioise once more, but this time with a full backpack and stomach. After the three adults had gotten over the shock, the professor demanded that she and her pokemon stay for dinner, which she gladly accepted. While in the lab, she got to meet all the different pokemon that inhabited the space, as well as seeing some of the different devices and machines he had. After that, she was given a fine sum of money, along with loads of potions, repels, revives, and other medicine as payment. She had tried to refuse, she but they wouldn’t hear it. Now with more money than she had ever thought she would see, plus potions she couldn’t even buy yet, she felt on top of the world, and brave enough to face the electric type gym.   
However, that would have to be for a different day. It was late, and she still needed to find a room in a Center to stay in for a little while. Apparently the Professor, Colette, and Sophie wanted her back again tomorrow for a crash course on Mega Evolution so she could know just how much she helped them. She didn’t mind, she didn’t mind at all, this was certainly a cool experience, plus this way she could talk to people for an extended amount of time. But, all the looks she got on her way to the center had her on edge.   
Everest wasn’t quite sure if it was because of her rare pokemon, or some other reason, but she didn’t want to find out. Luckily, the center was just around the corner, so she clicked her heels and tore down the streets, weaving around the few people still around. Nurse Joy snapped her eyes up ash the sudden entrance, but didn’t mention it as Everest made her way to the counter.  
“How can I help you?” Relaxed by her presence, it seemed Spencer was calmer as well, judging by the fur flattening.   
“Could I have a room?” Grasping the cool key in her hand, Everest found her way to the room easily, and collapsed from everything that happened the past couple days, thankful to have a real bed tonight


	8. Lumiose Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everest gets the chance to battle Clemont, but, someone is after her and her Pokémon.

The next couple days, Everest was happy to say that she got to know the scientists in Professor Sycamore’s lab. Sophie was like what Everest imagined a mom should be. Kind, caring, but strict when it was necessary. The professor on the other hand was crazy and immature, but incredibly intelligent. Colette was careful, double checking everything, but kind nonetheless. They welcomed her in, and Everest was happy to spend a little down time with them.  
“So, how many gym badges do you have?” The professor asked, she was currently sitting with the Gible they had recently caught, playing tug-of-war with a rope. He was teething so it was important to get all his anger out on the toy.   
“One, I beat Viola a couple weeks ago. Spencer was amazing at it.” Everest praised her pokemon, who was sitting off to the side, copying the form of the tiny dragon type with ease. Icee was shooting mist at Gible, trying to get a reaction so she could sweep in and get the toy for the seventh time. Turns out Gible don’t have the best attention span as once more the toy went slack, and Icee jumped in and tried to snatch it from Everest.   
“Are you going to challenge Prism Tower while you’re here?” His kind eyes looked up over his computer, laughing when he saw that two Gible were chasing each other, one seemingly too fast for its biology.  
“Well.” Everest paused, she had been thinking about that for awhile. Clemont, the electric type gym leader was supposed to be really tough. But, she was already here… “I’d like to. Not sure if I can beat him, but it won’t hurt. Any helpful suggestions?” She shrugged, hopeful, but she also was willing to accept defeat.   
“Be ready to battle opponents in the air.” With a grin, their conversation was cut off, Professor Sycamore was suddenly pushing her out the door of his office. “Go get ‘em champ. We’ll be here waiting.” Before she even knew what hit her, she had her hands full with recalled pokeballs, and a confused Colette looking at her.  
“Did he just push you out?” She asked, she was the least outspoken of the three, but was still pretty sure in her own voice. “Kick him out next time. Good luck in your battle by the way.” The purple hair glinted in the sunlight as she turned away, meanwhile, Everest was very confused. If she didn’t know better she would assume that they were all communicating psychically   
“Right…” Sighing, she decided to bite the bullet, the last few days have been nice, there have been plenty of mock battles between Spencer and Icee in order to give her more experience. 

In all of its glory, Prism Tower stood before her, the masterpiece of Lumiose City. Pearly white panels reflected the sunlight, standing tall above everything else. The league symbol sat above the main entrance, boasting the power held within. Clemont was still a new gym leader, he had begun the previous year when the city had approached him to battle inside the masterpiece he had powered. He was amazing with electric types, and it was because of his inventions that they were so highly powered.   
She suspected that he used them when he was younger to boost his experiments, and they must be incredibly loyal to allow him to use their energy. Nervously, she padded forward, only one badge in her case to even prove she had some talent.   
The steel walls pulsed with energy, but every light was beautifully crafted to show off the care and energy that it took to light it up. Everest knew that every gym was different, but this still was weird compared to Santalune.   
“Hello! Are you here for a gym battle?” A young woman asked, she had what she assumed to be a uniform for the gym, it was mainly grey and black, but had a lightning bolt on the left sleeve. The pants and shirt were form fitting, but still managed to look somewhat stylish.  
“Yes, if the leader is in.” Brushing her hand over the two poke balls at her side, she could feel the small vibrations of her friends comforting her.   
“He sure is! Follow me. Just through these doors.” A metal door opened automatically to reveal a huge stadium, but she supposed if any gym should have bleachers, this one makes sense being in the capital. On the gym leader’s side, she spotted a tool bench, along with a wide array of machines that were half built. “Clemont! You have a challenger!” A blonde head popped up from a mountain of metal, and he grinned and waved.  
“Welcome to my gym! Let me just-” As he struggled to get around the heap, he tripped over a bike wheel to fall face down on the dirt. She winced but didn’t comment on it as he rushed to his spot on the field. “Okay, I’ll match however many pokemon you have with you, you can exchange. First one out of useable pokemon looses, alright?” Everest nodded and held up her two balls. In response, the inventor held up two of his own, and tossed the others behind him, which were suddenly caught by a robot.   
“The battle between Clemont, the Lumiose Gym leader and Everest from Vaniville Town is about to begin. The gym leader will pick his Pokémon first.” She motioned for Clemont to release his chosen Pokemon, and he willingly released a flash of scarlet light.   
“Emolga, I choose you.” A smaller Pokémon came into view, it had wings that extended from its arms, big ears and eyes, yellow cheek spots like Pikachu has. Everest grinned and took out her first Pokémon, bringing it to her lips before releasing her onto the field.   
“Sandshrew.” Her whisper wasn’t even noticed by anyone except for her friend in the poke ball, then released the illusion. “Go Spencer!” As requested, she appeared as a ground type, and she hoped that Clemont wouldn’t suspect anything.   
“Nice choice, it may be impervious to electric attacks, but I’m prepared for this. Emolga, Quick attack.” Everest paled at the attack, hoping her friend is up for the speed match.   
“Pursuit.” Speaking lowly enough for the strong ears to pick up on her command, but not enough so Clemont has enough time to question the move pool, he seemed too smart not to pick up on it like Viola did. Spencer managed to avoid the first dive Emolga took at her, sidestepping and ducking. As Emolga rose once more to the skies to get out of range, Spencer jumped, paws dark with shadow.   
The only reaction the gym leader was to frown before he nodded to his Pokémon. The flying-type nodded and cried out loudly, rising even higher in the air.  
“Aerial ace!” He shouted, and Everest laughed because she was about to give the same attack. Going over her list of possibilities, she knew what had to happen.  
“Okay, use scratch when it comes in close.” The opponent flew in fast, faster than she thought possible. The girl winced when it hit its mark, and the illusion faded. She ignored Clemont’s excited gasp and watched for Spencer’s claws to extend and bat Emolga out of the air. “Use aerial ace while it’s down, pursuit if it’s conscious.” Satisfaction rose in her chest as the flying type was struggling to get to its feet, stunned by the harsh impact it received from the ground.   
Spencer came in quick, maybe not as fast as the flying type, but still managed to hit her target, and the pokemon fell to the ground, passed out.  
“Emolga is unable to battle, which means Spencer is the victor. The gym leader will pick his next pokemon.” The assistant announced, and Everest had to think deeply about her next move. Her usual ace was out in the open. Sure, Spencer was a good battler, but she always had a sense of security with the illusion in place. Wondering idly if she would have to use her other pokemon, she hoped not, Icee might not be ready to face a huge electric type.   
“Nice work buddy.” Clemont returned his pokemon with a small smile, then met Everest’s eyes. “That was incredibly clever! But, you wont be able to get my next pokemon the same way. Heliolisk, let’s go.” Next, a bipedal. Yellow pokemon came out. It’s head was black, and a fan extended behind its head as it hissed at Spencer. A long, yellow and orange tail swished wildly, creating an intimidating figure that stood a whole foot above Spencer.   
“Fake Tears.” On command, the small pokemon burst into tears, and the previously angry lizard faltered.   
“Don’t fall for it Heliolisk! Use Thunderbolt!” His command fell short as the lizard stood still, unsure as to whether to follow its trainer’s commands. She felt a little bad making it fall for their trick, but that was the method of dark types after all.   
“Pursuit, but feint to the left.” Perhaps the pokemon had been hurt in another battle, or maybe that was just how it stood, but it favored its right side, the left behind by two feet, and if she could imbalance it, maybe force it into a move. Obediently, Spencer ran to the electric-normal duo type, which hissed in alarm before Spencer ducked to the left, and hit it. Only, when they made contact, it shifted so its tail hit Spencer in the side.   
Electricity raced through Spencer, and she winced as a thunderbolt hit its mark, the dark type couldn’t do anything about it.   
“Spencer is unable to battle, which means Heliolisk is the winner, the challenger will reveal her next pokemon.” Running her hand over the cool surface of the ball which held her Eevee, she had faith in the little thing, but she hoped that she wouldn’t be scared.  
“Okay Icee, let’s do this.” The soft brown furred creature was revealed, who squeaked in excitement at being out of her ball. “Icee, this is a battle. There’s your opponent. Just like on Route 4.” She nodded in understanding at tried to growl at the Heliolisk, but ended up being more like a yip. Without needing to be told, she released mist onto the field, creating a thick cover over almost half the field, which Icee disappeared into.   
“Don’t let it sneak up on you, listen carefully.” The gym leader’s advice would be in vain, they had practiced running quietly. As a smaller Pokémon, Everest knew that both would need to be trained in stealth, at least for now until their power began to grow.   
A hazel streak left the mist cloud, running right into the Kalos pokemon, a tackle that hit harsher because of a protect ring wrapped around the Eevee. Stumbling back, Heliolisk hissed and tried to send a thunder shock at Icee, but it went way off target. Luckily for the brown pokemon, she had gotten much faster, and was able to avoid the attack.   
“Cover the ground in grass knot.” With the leader’s command, vines crept up on the battlefield, growing and breaking through the dirt. Everest nervously bit her lip before turning to Icee.   
“Watch your feet, make it fall with you.” Still unable to actually hit Icee, Clemont’s pokemon hissed angrily as the Eevee left up onto the lizard’s back, and the grass trying to get Icee, wrapped around Heliolisk.   
“Nice work, return.” Everest stared at the leader in confusion, and he just shook his head with a grin. “That was really good battling, especially with two unevolved pokemon.” The blonde praised as he walked towards her, sifting through his pockets as he searched for something. “I enjoyed our battle, it’s been weeks since someone has defeated me. I’m proud to present you with the Voltage badge.”  
“Thank you!” Everest smiled and took the badge gingerly, letting Icee sniff it as the pokemon hopped up on her shoulder. “Your Emolga was beautiful.” Clemont seemed to like the compliment, proudly patting the electric-flying type ball.   
“Took forever to learn all the tricks he knows.” The gym leader sighed, but kept a smile on his face. “Now, if that Eevee of yours evolves into a Jolteon, and you need advice, let me know.” Everest accepted the number for the PDex thingy.  
“Thank you, so much! I will certainly look into it.” With that, she waved goodbye, thanking the gym leader for his kindness as the excitement of the events crept up on her. “Icee! We’ve beat two gym leaders!” She yelled excitedly, the Eevee pranced around the hallways happily, barking in excitement. “Come on out.” Spencer appeared by her side, and she took the weak dark-type in her arms. “Icee won!” Spencer called out happily to Icee as they left the building, coming into the direct sunlight.   
Something felt off, however, when they made it to one of the avenues that would take them back to the pokemon laboratory. The hairs rose on her arms, up ahead, she could see an odd figure. The avenue was oddly empty, no one else on the street, save for the one man up ahead. He was decked out in charcoal grey, silver boots rose to his knees. The man was facing away from Everest, seemingly unaware of her presence. Just when she was about to turn around and leave the weird situation, he turned around slowly and saw her.   
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my lucky day.” He spoke cooly, sending shivers up her spine. From her arms, Spencer hissed threateningly, fur standing on end.   
“Who are you?” He only laughed at Everest’s question, then proudly gestured to the huge, scarlet R on his chest. He stepped closer, now within ten yards, she swallowed back her fear, for now.  
“Well, missy. I’m a part of Team Rocket.” Spencer jumped from the dark haired girl’s arms, her injuries long forgotten. “Ha, you think your little fox is going to help you? That’s cute. Do you even know who Team Rocket is?” She didn’t get a chance to respond, because a moment later, a black and white pokemon appeared. She took a step back, worrying about what could happen.   
Everest recognized the Pokemon, it was a Pancham, a fighting type. The type both of her pokemon were weak to. Deciding if need be, she may be able to click her heels and skate away quickly. But, if it knew any distance attacks, she would be opening herself up to whatever attacks this guy was willing to throw at her. He didn’t seem to be of very high moral caliber, she she didn’t want to take her chances.  
“See, we specialize in, finding, rare and powerful pokemon.” He grinned, and Everest held onto Icee at his words. Her gaze fell to her friends, knowing very well how rare they were considered, at least in their current region. “And, your pokemon are just too good to pass up. Hand them over, and I won’t have the chance to kill you, or your weakling pokemon.” The threat cooled her to the bone, but she snapped out of it.  
“Never. You’ll never steal my pokemon.” She hissed before looking to Spencer. The dark type was snarling maliciously, a dangerous look the trainer had yet to see. The Pancham on the other hand, it had scars littering its body, it was no doubt tortured out of its mind to come to a state like this. She didn’t think Fake tears would even do anything. “Aerial Ace.” That was the only move they had that would even do any damage, and she wasn’t looking to fool around.  
“Chop it in half.” The man smirked, bloodlust in his eyes. Holding her breath, she wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, she didn’t want to subject her friends to this torture. “You too Foongus.” Another pokemon was released, and at the word, Icee growled and jumped in front of her trainer. Caught between two completely different battles, the trainer barely saw the hit on Pancham hit.   
There was a little bit of crimson blood, but not enough for the fighting type to falter, instead, his hit met cleanly, and Spencer was thrown to the side like trash.  
“Spencer!” She cried out, she tried running towards her, but Icee jumped in front, blocking her from running, but also blocking a few roots from entangling around her legs. The Eevee looked to her, squeaking for help. No matter how skilled Icee may be, she has only been in a few battles. “Mist, then ram it with protect.” Getting another chance to watch Spencer, her heart sank, the dark pokemon was struggling to stand. Pancham was creeping closer, a sick grin stretched across its face, the little twig on the verge of falling from its mouth.  
“Give up yet?” He called from across the road, a devilish smirk as he watched her movements, her pokemon failing to keep up with his own. Before she could answer, a loud cry went around the battle field, all eyes focused on Spencer. Managing to stand, her paws had enveloped in a cold darkness, and with a swift movement, took off, slamming into the Pancham. Knocked back, the enemy pokemon snarled lowly at Spencer’s regain of energy.  
Icee was still hidden in the mist luckily, so she didn’t have to worry about that, it was an evasion game the normal pokemon could manage, at least for now. Spencer, she was worried about. All of the red on her couldn’t be natural, as evident by the bloodied paw prints and the pool of blood where she had laid. The Pancham still looked little worse for wear, and it was now that Everest wished she had more pokemon.   
“Let’s finish this up.” Another pokemon was let out at his command. It was tall and intimidating, tan and black made up the stripes, a pink underbelly even while it stood bipedal. A long serpentine tail waved behind it, spikes layered on it. Black rimmed the eyes, making the crocodilian appear like wearing shades. This one, without a foe, stalked towards Everest, making a show of it.   
And then, the avenue was bathed in a bright light. All fights stopped, and Spencer’s form grew blinding. Biting back her shock, she kept her eyes on her dark-type. Her form was growing rapidly, rising up at least four feet, spikes appearing, claws sharpening. Her evolution was rushed by the dire situation, it was easy to tell as the usually painless system forced Spencer into a roar of pain. Biting back her desire to run to her friend, she watched as the light faded away, revealing a very different pokemon.  
It rushed at Pancham, not even giving it a moment to attack before the newly long claws dug deep into the rough hide. The pokemon was recalled to the rocket member with a sneer.  
“Get the trainer!” He shouted at his pokemon, who turned to Everest with an almost robotic look. In a flash, her Zoroark had the reptilian pokemon pinned, snarling in its face. In response, it growled back, hitting its tail against the concrete. The sound so loud it reverberated through the stone, sending shockwaves up her legs. Forced to her knees, she could feel earthquake happening from the mystery pokemon.   
The last thing she managed to see, was the claws slashing at the hooded eyes of the tan and black pokemon.


	9. Lumiose Medical Center

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventure is put on pause, and the question is, why are the Rockets in Kalos?

Everything hurt. Everything. Everest tried to open up her eyes, but nothing happened. trying again, it felt like she was ripping tape from her eyes, only to be met by a dim light. The room she was in was pretty empty, a normal hospital recovery room she noted upon inspection. The rough cotton sheets over her legs, the electronic bed, an IV hung next to her bed, a red button on her lap. An overwhelming sense of guilt hit her as she realized she didn’t know where her pokemon are, if they are even okay.   
A nurse appeared only ten seconds after she pressed the red button, a kind, but sad look hung over her eyes as she walked in.   
“Where are my pokemon?” The nurse handed her a glass filled with water, before she began checking on Everest’s vitals.  
“Your Eevee is going to be just fine, in fact, she is allowed to enter as soon as you awoke.” Everest smiled at the fact, but not much when she didn’t mention her newly evolved pokemon. “Your Zoroark though…” breathing heavily, she waited for whatever the nurse was going to say, and she knew it was going to be bad.   
Evolving when pokemon are already hurt can do a lot to damage the pokemon. Forcing that much strain on an injured pokemon wasn’t healthy, and in Everest’s opinion, Spencer seemed a little young to be evolving.  
“She is in critical care. The evolution really damaged her bone structure. Her bones needed to be reset, she needs at least two weeks of bed rest before se can move.” Everest felt the tears before she even realized she was crying, struggling to sit up, she smiled through the pain. Spencer would be okay.  
“But, she’ll be okay eventually?” The nurse nodded and gave Everest some pain killers.  
“Yes, don’t worry about that. As soon as you can get up and walk, which will be sometime tomorrow, you can see her. In the meantime, rest. There are some people here that want to talk to you. I’ll let them know you can talk in half an hour, and I’ll send in your Eevee.” Everest thanked the lady once more, and only a few minutes later, the brown fluff ball came running in.   
“Icee!” A very energetic Eevee began licking Everest’s cheek, worriedly rubbing her head up against Everest’s. “Hey girl. You were so brave.” With her pokemon cuddled up on her lap, Everest did her best to recall what happened, but came up short any moment after seeing the reptilian pokémon. 

“Can we come in?” The door opened to reveal Everest’s guests. The professor, Sophie, and Cossette walked in, waving or dipping their head in greeting as they filled the small room.   
“What happened?” Sophie’s calm voice filtered over the room, and Icee watched the group suspiciously, surely now more protective than ever of her trainer. Recalling the events in her head seemed too real, she felt sick.  
“It was after I beat Clemont. We were walking back to meet with you, when we came across this dude.” The further she got into her story, the more angry and frustrated the professor looked. The lab assistants were scribbling down information as she continued, having to stop every few minutes because the reality of it all came crashing down. “Did you see Spencer?”  
“Yes. It is quite astounding what she did for you.” The professor sighed, while the trainer hung onto every word, worried sick for her friend. “By my calculations, she would have evolved in a few weeks under normal circumstances. But, when you were in danger, the rush of hormones triggered it, triggering the process.” Nodding numbly, she waited to hear more of the story. Collette pulled a chair up beside the bed, watching the trainer worriedly.  
“The police received a call about a disturbance, they were the first ones on scene, according to their reports, an earthquake attack was aimed towards you, knocking you out.” Recalling the scene, she shivered, but nodded anyways, knowing exactly what the woman was talking about. “Spencer and Icee fought off the Rocket, and when the police were about to apprehend him, he escaped, disappearing in the streets of the city.” The fact that he was still out there frightened Everest, he was after all willing to go to extreme lengths to catch her pokemon, who knows what he might try next if he thinks they’re worth it.  
“Can’t he come back at anytime then?” Icee seemed to be able to sniff out Everest’s fears, and snuggled into the trainer’s arms, trying to reassure her.  
“The hospital is under constant surveillance. After the attack, the police presence was increased.” Shaking his head, the professor pulled out a tablet, one he used for research. On it, was a video of a black and red pokemon. “This is live. Right now, she’s resting. She hasn’t awoke yet, after the police showed up, she was protecting you from everyone, including the police. They had to tranquilize her.” Gingerly, she took the tablet from the professor, looking over the slumbering pokemon. Icee whined and nudged the screen with her nose, seemingly upset by her friend’s condition.   
“Who is team rocket anyways?” All three scientists glanced towards each other, unsure of what their answer was going to be, as if they had to hide something. Everest narrowed her eyes in frustration, why were they trying to keep something secret?   
“They’re a criminal organization based out of Kanto. Currently, Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islads are fighting them off, trying to destroy what footholds they’ve found in the regions. Their Champions of course are heading the battles.” Sophie eventually spoke up, her voice shaking.   
Champions are in charge of protecting their region, that is their job. As the strongest trainer, they are said to be able to stop anything in their tracks. She knew Lance of the Kanto region was specifically powerful, with a whole team of dragons. The rocket she fought would have been obliterated by even a swipe of his dragons’ claws. But that begged the question, why hasn’t she heard of Diantha going after Team Rocket.  
“And Diantha?” The champion of Kalos, Diantha, was a movie star as well. Everyone loved her, mainly for her looks and kindness. But, Everest hadn’t heard of any resistance against the Rockets. Sycamore frowned at her question, and began pacing.  
“The gym leaders as well as the Elite four have begun to fight them. The gym leaders have been pretty successful at defeating them when they lie in their cities, but you know as well as I do, that isn’t the only responsibility they have.” She nodded numbly, Clemont for instance, had to power the city, he expanded much of the infrastructure, and had to deal with challengers. In the biggest city in the world, he couldn’t do all of that and protect the city completely. “The attacks aren’t well organized, communication between forces has been off, and so far, Diantha hasn’t done anything about the situation.” Her stomach turned at the thought, why hasn’t their biggest protector done anything? Then, she recalls what she has seen the champion doing lately.  
“Don’t tell me, she’s too busy with her new movie.” Collette shrugged, and the other two looked away, clearly not supportive of the situation. “But, she’s supposed to be the Champion first.” Struggling to find words, she could recall hundreds of stories of fierce Champions, going to the extreme to protect their homeland dating back as far as history records went. While Diantha did what? She was filming movies.  
“Not many are aware of this, at least not yet. She’s still front and center, just for all the wrong reasons. I’m worried it will take something awful to bring her back to her senses.” Rendered speechless, Everest just sat there, petting the soft fur of her companion, wondering what that event might have to be.  
¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥  
Two weeks later everyone was all healed up, and Spencer had finally woken up. At the time, when she first woke up, she thought Everest was still in danger. The dark type had tried to attack a nurse, until Everest came along to calm her down. Their reunion was amazing, and Everest filled her in on Team Rocket and their goals.   
It seemed by through only a few attacks, team rocket had made a dangerous enemy, and no one would know that until much later. 

When they were packing up, getting ready to depart, a small knock came from the door. Professor Sycamore walked in only a few seconds later with a couple items in hand. Wordlessly, he handed her an envelope, which she opened.  
“Professor? Are you getting rid of me?” She looked at the details of the airplane ticket. Destination: Castelia City, Unova. She hadn’t ever heard of the city, but she also didn’t know much about Unova either. He laughed heartily, shaking his head negatively at her joke.  
“No, not yet at least.” He smiled warmly, pulling up a photo of something on his tablet. “This is Castelia City, largest in Unova. To the north of it, is a place called the Desert Resort.” The city was buzzing, even from just a still photo. At least dozens of huge skyscrapers, a handful of piers, along with trains were the few thing she could see past all the citizens. “I was hoping you could help me with a project.”   
“Does it have to do with the Mega Stones?” In response, he held out the other item. It looked a little like binoculars, except for the lenses, there were crystals.   
“Yes, I’ve heard tales of powerful items hidden in the resort. I was hoping that one of these may be what I’m looking for.” He began, waving the objects around as he completely forgot about it, she was slightly worried he may accidentally throw it.  
“And you want to send me?” Why her? It wasn’t like she was powerful or strong. They were nearly killed a couple weeks ago.   
“You and your team are perfect for the job. You already know about the Mega stones, and there isn’t anyone I trust more with this job. You’re no pushover, plus, your team won against type matchups they should have lost.” Sycamore explained, his words filled with passion, and it renewed her lust for battling.   
“Okay, so when do I leave? And how long do I stay? And when do I know that I’ve finished the job?” Leaving Kalos? It sounded like a dream come true, she barely ever left her hometown, and now she could travel to Unova for a while? Sounded great.  
“Hey, and I thought I was going to have to convince you.” Everest looked down at her hands, biting her lip. Maybe she sounded a little too overzealous to be leaving? “The plane leaves tonight, it will arrive in Unova two hours later, and I already booked a hotel room for you.” He handed her a receipt which went into the envelope, which held money and the ticket. “You can stay as long as you wish. The desert is over 100 square miles, so you can take it at your own pace. I suggest no longer than a three weeks, however. You are still on track to gain all eight badges, but spend too much time in Unova could stop you in your tracks.” After doing some slight estimations, she figured she was about 7 weeks along, giving her about 40 weeks to get the other six badges and prepare for the Conference.   
“The plane will fly over night, about 6 hours, arriving in Unova for the early morning. I suggest you sleep on the plane.” Packing up her things, she had to grin, a new place, new pokémon, a new adventure.


	10. Castelia City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everest makes it to Unova! While visiting, new additions are made to the team.

Castelia City was huge, rivaling Lumiose City for sheer number of people. But, while in Lumiose, there were only a few tall towers, here, they all stood taller than the most famous building in all of Kalos. Icee sat on her shoulder, watching the hustle and bustle with excitement. Spencer on the other hand, she was a Liepard, slinking around by her feet, hissing at people who got too close. That was a feat in itself, because the streets were absolutely packed with people rushing to get to their job or home. A few times Spencer nearly got hit by a briefcase, and Icee had to use protect to prevent the angry fox from getting revenge. Finally, she spotted the Center, apparently her hotel was part of the center, used for traveling CEO’s and such.  
“Thank Arceus.” Mumbling, she nearly took back her praise when she entered the center. Inside proved to be busy too, and three different nurses stood at the front desk, each helping at least four separate people at once. Taking her place in line, she watched as Spencer stalked off, sniffing a couple people, they probably had something hidden. Icee on the other hand jumped off of her shoulder, moving towards two toddlers who she allowed to pet her.   
“Can I help you?” Breaking out of her daze, she gave the nurse the receipt, who sighed thankfully. “I’m glad for a couple small jobs.” She smiled before giving Everest a key.   
“Thank you! Guys, lets go.” Her pokemon left their distractions willingly, and just before she could press the elevator button, a hand gripped her shoulder.   
“Hey, could I- sorry, didn’t mean to threaten your Liepard like that.” A boy asked from behind her, letting go of her shoulder once Spencer realized someone touched Everest, and snarled dangerously at the kid.   
“It’s okay. How can I help you?” Icee squeaked in greeting to the guy, he must have been a couple years older than her, and was very cautious while looking at her dark type.  
“Right, oh yeah. Did you get your Eevee from the sewers?” Turning to look at the boy closer, she thought he was trying to insult her, but he looked completely serious.   
“Um, no. I’m from Kalos…what do you mean, the sewers?” The boy blushed and tried to apologize, guess she asked that more harshly than she intended.   
“Oh, well, that’s the only place you can find Eevee’s in Unova. They’re awfully rare, but I’ve heard of people finding them down there. I wanted one myself, and wanted to know how you found it.” His explantation made sense, but as she looked down to Icee, she frowned. What were proud creatures like an Eevee doing in the sewer?  
“This city? In the sewers here?” He nodded, pulling out a map before pointing to one of the piers.  
“See, you can get in here, at the end. But only at certain times of the year. It’s accessible right now, but its filled with poison types. I’ve gone in there a few times, but there are hordes of Zubat and Grimer, I can only search about a day before I have to retreat.” That brought a brilliant idea to mind. Who’s to say she couldn’t find another Eevee? Maybe it would make Icee really happy. 

That kid was right, there were a lot of Zubat. Seemingly coming from nowhere, they would swoop down and try to bite her. Icee and Spencer would protect her, half the time she actually was in a protect shield anyways. Thankfully, there were a few bridges crossing over the sludge in the bottom of the tunnel. No doubt that was where the Grimer were coming from.   
They were a rare case in the world. Actually coming from poisonous substances that are immobile for too long, they would come to life after a warming period. No doubt one was ‘born’ every day. Hopefully most of them lived in the really dark corners of the sewers, where they could become Muk in peace, not bothering any living thing that couldn’t handle their toxic fumes.   
While she was holding the dowsing machine, hoping to at least learn how to use it before getting to the desert, she jumped three feet in the air when a blue light flickered on.   
“Icee, is anything on the ground?” The Eevee began sniffing the ground, turning over an old wrapper, they didn’t find anything. Sighing, she kept walking, hoping the glitch would leave- until the light flickered green. “Ohh, okay.” She followed the bridge, happy to see it change to yellow. “And then, the lights crossed to make a red X.” Icee, anything?” Her eyes weren’t nearly as good as the Eevee, and grinned in triumph when she saw something shiny in her mouth. “Good girl.” She took the cartridge from the pokémon, brushing the dirt off of the mysterious item. “No way.”   
Under all the dirt and grime- and what looked to be remnants of a dead Ratatta- was a red case. Inside was a pristine silver disk, words on the inner circle read: FLAMETHROWER. Recalling all the hours she spent rummaging through the PDex, she already knew what she would do with this TM, so long as it hasn’t been used before…   
“Spencer, come here.” The Zoroark walked over carefully, watching so she didn’t step on the Eevee who was happily trying to bite the Zubat flying around them. “How would you like to learn a fire type move?” The teal eyes brightened at her question, before rumbling happily. “Okay, so, I think it works like this.” Talking to herself, she pulled out her all purpose machine: the PDex, and fiddled with it till she found the disk button.   
About two minutes later, she finally found it, and managed to place it into the tray. Following the generic instructions on the screen, she aimed the light at Spencer.  
“Stay still.” Doing as asked, she stood stone still, and a white light began scanning over the tall pokemon. After a few clumsy attempts at actually starting the process, the light turned a fiery orange, before a beep exited around them. “How do you feel?” So maybe, she shouldn’t have taught her pokémon a move this destructive in an enclosed space, but she was still so excited with her find.   
In a bright flash, warmth crept into her bones, and flame shot away from Everest, towards a bunch of Zubat. A few of them were easily burnt to a crisp, and she winced at the sight. Oops, probably should avoid tiny pokemon with that attack… At least they all were moving, or twitching…some will be a lot more wary of travelers from now on. But she couldn’t find the pity within herself for the blood-sucking pokemon. There were stories of hikers getting drained of their blood, to the point of death, and after seeing them swoop down at her, she had no doubt they were true.  
“We’ll work on it. But, nice work.” The dark type growled maliciously, smirking at her new power. Icee squealed happily, intrigued with the new move. Slipping the disk back in her bag, she knew it to be worthless, but that didn’t depreciate the sentimental value. “Let’s go this way.”   
The tunnel she picked turned out to be favorable, as it was steadily growing lighter, a natural type of light, not from the poor quality of lights on the walls. A rusted set of stairs quickly appeared through the gloom, a bright doorway at the top.   
“We didn’t circle around, did we?” This set looked like it was used a lot less, dirt covered the steps, small pokemon footprints interrupted the dust, no human footprints though. “I wonder.” Mumbling to herself, she walked up the stairs, keeping eyes peeled for any pokémon that wasn’t a Grimer or Zubat.   
Blinded for a moment, she was forced to rub her eyes for a couple moments before the Trainer could open them once more. Gasping, she was in awe at the beauty before her. The small grove was beautiful, trees canopied the break in the sky. Flowers and grass grew wildly, unchecked by any person. Wild pokémon were peeking out at her from the tall grass. She could see some Rattata, a Skitty, and two Bunneary. Above in the trees, a few Cottonee and some bird pokemon she wasn’t familiar with looked down curiously.   
Icee squeaked excitedly, prancing towards the other pokémon. Her calls proved fruitful, as she soon had two playmates, two other Eevees appearing from somewhere. Everest watched in awe, the three together acted like long lost friends. As she wondered if they’re related, she sat down, trying to ease the pokémon of this little reprieve.   
She saw a few of them had scars, and they were most likely from staged battles. No doubt at least a couple of these guys were abandoned by their trainers, others probably wandered in after getting stuck in the sewers.  
Icee was a little taller than one of the Eevee, while the other one was taller than both. They were playing a version of tag, which included the smaller of the Eevee running around in what looked like Quick Attack, easily out running the other two.   
Pretty soon, there were others joining in, a Rattata and Skitty easily finding their place in the tussle. Beside Everest, Spencer sat on the ground, still protectively watching the wild pokémon for any indication they may attack her trainer. She was easily the biggest of all the pokemon here, so Everest doubted any of these passive creatures were even going to try. Icee came bounding up to her trainer a little while later, sniffing her pockets and chittering happily.  
“What’s up girl?” Laughing happily, she picked up Icee and gave her a quick hug before the Eevee took her normal place on her shoulder. Small yips followed, and Everest watched in awe as the two Eevee approached her.   
The taller was more confident, holding its head high as it approached. Hiding behind the content figure, the smaller Eevee looked around the shoulders, curious brown eyes looked up at Spencer. The dark type rumbled in greeting, staying protective, but loosing the intimidating aura.   
“Hey there.” Everest greeted softly, holding out a hand for the curious pokemon to sniff. After what sounded like reassurances from Icee, the taller of the two stepped forward and sniffed her hand. With her other hand, the trainer slipped her grip into her bag. Her hands closed around a familiar round object. While the brown creature was distracted, she pulled it out before pushing it in front of the Eevee. “Do you like these?” It perked up once it saw the Pomeg berry, eagerly biting into it.   
This gave the shy Eevee a chance to move forward, cautiously sniffing Everest’s outstretched hand. Now in full view, she sadly regarded the huge slash through the pokemon’s ears, a chunk taken from both. It looked like a much stronger pokémon had taken their claws or talons to the defenseless Eevee, she was betting on poachers as she found what looked like scars from a trap meant for much larger pokemon on its legs, this pokémon had been through a lot of shit before finding this little reprieve.   
The Eevee deemed her safe, and decided to curl up next to her knee, watching the other Eevee demolish the fruit. Wordlessly, she took another berry from her bag, and placed it in front of the smaller Eevee. With cautious movements, the trainer slowly began petting the scared pokémon, and the world melted away.   
From across the park, the wild creatures decided that the human was safe, but didn’t want to approach. This was a sanctuary for the lost pokémon, and it was designed long ago by wiser entity. They all knew that only a few trainers could find their way in, and when they did, they were supposed to do great things. The two Eevees were meant to go with her, as all are meant to leave one day.   
The sun began to set, casting the park in an orange glow. Everest decided now was the time to leave. Standing up carefully, she, Spencer, and Icee were about to leave when a small bark got her attention. The taller Eevee looked to be grinning at her, wagging its tail excitedly before barking once more.  
“Do you want to come with us?” When she first arrived, Everest wanted to catch at least one new friend, but as her time went on in this park, she knew each pokémon here had been through awful things, and she wasn’t about to take them away from their sanctuary. The Eevee yipped excitedly, pawing gently at her legs. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She laughed and tried to find the compartment full of poke balls. The professor had given her a few, ones that she didn’t recognize to try out. Pulling out one with yellow and blue markings, she presented it to the wild Eevee.   
The Eevee barked once at its companion, before turning to the ball, and pressing its nose to the button. In a flash of bright red, the pokémon was turned into light and sucked into the machine. The ball shook once, twice, and then it beeped.   
“We got a new friend!” Everest cheered excitedly, pumping her fist into the air. Then, her gaze fell to the smaller Eevee, who was watching the ball with sadness. “Would you like to come along with us? You can stay together that way?” Presenting yet another pokéball, this one was white and pink, with a huge heart on the front. Without hesitation, it too tapped the button, this time with a paw. The ball beeped straight away, and the shock fell on her shoulders. “No way.” She just doubled how many pokémon she had, in less than a minute. Deciding that she should talk to them now, they were released onto the field. “It’s getting dark, do you want to say goodbye before we leave?” The smaller Eevee licked her ankle before prancing off to the bushes to say goodbye, and she observed with a small smile. 

Everest’s new Eevee led them out of the sewers through a secret tunnel. It proved to be fruitful, as they were led through an abandoned section, void of wild pokémon. Now, she laid on her bed, her hair drying on the pillow after her shower. Now, she didn’t smell of the sewer thankfully, and she scrubbed all members of her team as well.   
All were laid out, resting and basking in the cleanliness. The scarred Eevee, which turned out to be male, along with the other one… (she really needed to name these guys) sat atop her chest, snoozing peacefully. Curled up against her right side, Icee was purring in delight as Spencer groomed the brown fur. The Zoroark laid at the head of the bed, doubling as Everest’s pillow. The last member of her team was lying on her legs, content. While she honestly was tired, Everest scrolled through her PDex, memorizing the new stats listed.   
Eevee- 1’9”, Male, Rash in nature. Ability: Run Away.   
Known moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Baby Doll Eyes, Swift.   
Eevee- 1’0”, Male, Quiet in nature. Ability: Anticipation.  
Known Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack.  
Say what you like about originality, but Everest was proud of her team. She knew she could try and determine what they each evolved into, to try and counteract the weaknesses she already had. Try and evolve them into what would fit her fighting style, but that didn’t appeal. Yes, she wanted to be strong, she wanted to be able to protect people from Team Rocket, but above all else, she wanted to make friends, she wanted to be able to rely on her pokémon and vise versa.   
Everest needed to her family to trust her, and be who they wanted to be. They would become strong together, their own way. For all she cared, they could all become Umbreon, maybe Everest could become a dark type expert.


	11. Route 4 (Unova)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everest is on her way to fulfill Professor Sycamore’s mission, and Everest must deal with a doubled amount of team members.

The next morning, Everest began early. Before the sun was even up, Everest was passing into Route 4 with three Eevee, along with a Panpour on her hat.   
“So, considering we now have three Eevee, do either of you want nicknames right now? Or, we could wait for awhile.” The scarred Eevee in his arms squeaked in excitement, rubbing his nose against the black and red top. “Is that a yes?” She laughed lightly, petting the brown fur. From above, she saw Spencer peek downwards over her hat, smiling down to the Eevee. “How about you?” Watching the tallest male, the proud normal-type shook his head no.   
With a small nod, she could respect that. Running her hands over the fur, she continued to walk. Everest walked through a suburb, this was the beginning of the route. She was willing to bet that since this was a residential area, there weren’t that many pokemon, and the ones that did live there, were deemed passive enough to live wildly next to humans. She could see a few Pidove flying above, cooing softly, but other than that? Nothing.  
“So, do you want a human name? Like Spencer has?” The Eevee seemed to ponder it as the walked down the sidewalk. Since it was so early, she hadn’t seen any trainers yet, so far, they didn’t even need to battle. After a few moments, the Eevee seemed to shrug. “Let’s try a few. You tell me what you think. How about… Dexter? Or… Alden? Kael, Orson? West. Shawn?” All the names were easily shot down, Then, the last one, he perked up. “Shawn?”  
Shawn excitedly jumped out of her arms, barking at Eevee. Smiling at the scene, Everest was happy to find a name that suited the Eevee, and she was guessing that he may not want to fight, at least, not right away.   
Watching in fascination, her tallest Eevee ran over to a pile of rocks on the side of the road and picked one up. Yipping happily he brought the rock over to Everest proudly, who took the rock. Ever since she explained they were looking for strange items, rocks in particular, her Eevee seemed to be entranced by many rocks and brought them to his trainer. She didn’t have the heart to tell the excited pokemon that he was just picking up random rocks, none actually holding any power. So now, she had a pocket full of random, grey rocks. 

By sunset, they had made a huge dent in Route 4. Awhile back, she had sent Icee and Shawn back into their poke balls, now she could spend some time with the male Eevee. Spencer was asleep on her shoulder, curled up around her neck, snoozing lightly. In the distance, there was a road passing over the path, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was, and who used it.   
Slowly, the surroundings were changing from suburbs of Castelia to a mining district. Sand and a desert landscape was bleeding through, a few miners were walking around but didn’t pay her any mind.   
“So, Eevee, we haven’t had much of a chance to talk about what’s going on next.” The Eevee walked beside her protectively, only a step away. He looked back at her curiously, but continued to walk slowly beside her. “See, I actually live in a different region, it’s called Kalos. A friend of mine sent me here to explore the desert resort.” She began, before pointing to the north-west. “Have you been there?” After being around an Eevee for more than a month, she was beginning to get a feel for the language of Eevee. Eevee barked, and she got the feeling that was a no.  
Watching the sun set over the cliffs to the west, Everest decided that it was about time to get to sleep. After all, even she knew that deserts could have huge drops in temperature overnight. The sand was all pretty flat, so taking shelter beside a small cliff, Everest set Spencer on a bedroll.   
“Can you help me? Use sand attack to clear a section for the tent please.” Right as the words left her mouth, Eevee jumped forward and a cloud of sand was pushed out of the way. As she set up her tent, she watched Eevee work from the corner of her eye. Finally, a divot was place in the sand, creating a perfect place for the tent to not be blown away. Without firm earth, she had to place her tent in a pit, without the ability to place stakes.   
“Come on out guys!” Grinning, red light lit up the fading hills as her friends appeared. “We’ve gotten more than halfway there. I think we’ll be there tomorrow.” Pulling out supplies, Everest served up the pokemon food she brought. Each now had their own bowl, before she pulled out a massive bowl, filling it up with water from her pack. While her friends ate, she pulled out the packaged food that is made easy for traveling trainers.   
By the time dinner was finished, the sun had set, and Icee had fallen asleep on Everest’s lap. They moved silently, only exception was Spencer’s low grumbles as she directed the newest members of the group on how to clean up dinner. In record time, each Pokemon had brought their bowls to Everest, who had woken Icee up so the Eevee could mist the plates. Spencer had taken a flying type form, along with one of the water containers. Shawn and the other Eevee took the chance to practice battling for a bit, with Everest’s input.   
When Spencer came back, she not only was holding a full water container, she also had a sparkling necklace in her claws. It was a teardrop shape, a sparkling sapphire.   
“What is that?” Holding up her most expensive piece of equipment, the Pdex spun for a few seconds while the necklace was dropped into her hand.   
“Mystic Water, an item to be held by a Pokemon. This ancient gem boosts water type moves.” The monotone voice reported and she spun the necklace in the light.   
“That’s so cool Spence! Thank you for finding this.” Finding one of the seemingly bottomless pockets, she lipped it in carefully. None of her pokemon even knew a water-type move. But maybe, someone would. Spencer still had the sharp beak, an Icee had the silk scarf. Perhaps she could locate more items for her newest friends. Anything to help them in their quest


	12. Desert Resort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everest gets the chance to meet a new trainer, as well as an unexpected evolution.

The next morning however, they woke up long after the sun rose. Closer to noon than six, the team began walking once more. They were all magnificent in the sunlight, and little did any of them know, in a few short months, their look would be completely different, and they could take the world by storm.   
Right now though? They were trekking through a path that was quickly turning to all sand. The sandstorm was taking them. Sand was blowing all around, whipping hair and fur all around, getting sand everywhere.   
“Wish I had some goggles or something.” Everest muttered, holding a hand up to her face, trying and failing to keep all the sand from going in her mouth and eyes.   
Somewhere to her left, she was aware of Spencer shooting flames in every other direction, practicing her flamethrower. She was getting better with aim and precision, judging by the fact that a seared Sitris berry was knocked to the ground, but the branch wasn’t lit on fire.   
“Nice one!” Yelling over the roar of the sandstorm, Shawn ran forward to retrieve the berry. Stopping her movement, she gave her pokemon a chance to rest, when she could spot a form of something through the sand. “What is that?” Wandering further, she stepped forward carefully, watching for pokemon under the sand. Finally, she was able to see a sign through the dust.   
Desert Resort: a popular location for trainers. Known well for ground types as well as a training location, be careful when trekking to keep track of rations. Pokemon Rangers patrol once a week, however, much of the desert is unmapped. Further in, more powerful pokemon live. Only enter if you have strong pokemon with you.  
Everest frowned at the sign, if the league wanted to discourage idiot trainers from entering the desert, they weren’t doing a good job of it. By telling trainers that powerhouses lived within the desert, weaker or over-confident trainers would enter, without heading the warning. Regardless, she pulled her hair into a bun.  
“Alright guys, let’s do this.” Watching her team for a moment, she then entered between the rocky cliffs, into the unknown. 

Two days later, Everest and her team had faced more rock and ground types than she had ever seen before. All were completely new to her, which helped Spencer find new species to turn into. It also gave her a chance to figure out just how her pokemon fought. Shawn was more of a gentle soul. He was ready to battle if Everest was threatened, but otherwise, he was more happy to sit back and watch the battles.   
Icee seemed to enjoy using mist to part the sandstorm around them, as well as to wash sand from everything they owned. Even if mist wasn’t a damaging move, she used it as if it was. The wild pokemon around here weren’t very comfortable around ice type moves.  
Spencer seemed to be growing stronger by the day, while welding Flamethrower and Foul Play, she seemed to be an unstoppable force of pure strength. Eager to protect her trainer, she attacked any wild pokemon that even growled at them, which proved to be disastrous for wild pokemon.   
Last, but certainly not least, her unnamed Eevee was eager to please and fight. He ran straight into danger, following Spencer’s lead. That wasn’t quite a good idea for the normal type since he didn’t have the strength or speed Spencer had, nor did he actually try and avoid most hits. He liked to prove how long he could last, which could prove fatal, so the trainer was working on it with him in between pointless escapades the Eevee took running head on into the storm.   
Lost in thought, she yelled out in surprise when the ground beneath her moved. Falling back she fell against the sandy ground as sand poured off a huge creature. It was bigger than anything she had seen yet in the resort. It fought its way to the surface, black and tan was the body color, but what really caught her attention: bright red eyes. Swallowing back her fear as it stepped forward and snapped its huge jaws at her, she managed to stand up, calling Icee to her side.   
“Icee, use mist to get into those holes.” The creature had these huge gaping holes on the side of it, but she hadn’t figured out the purpose. It looked a little like the Hippopotas she had run into all over the resort, so this must belong to its line. Not finding enough in her right now to care, she didn’t pull out her sometimes-helpful-electronic which seemed to have a vendetta against her. The Eevee followed instructions, only Icee was out at the moment, and a dazzling mist easily swept through the sand clouds centering in on the wild pokemon.   
Stopped dead in its tracks, or at least Everest thought so, until the large mouth opened wide, taller than herself, and slammed around the move. Faltering back, she stood still, watching the pokemon lazily chew a few times.  
“Did you just eat my move?” She growled, stamping her foot. It may be childish, but it completely ruined her plan.  
“Yeah, they tend to do that. Ezra, get in close to distract it, Drac, please use acrobatics.” Coming from seemingly nowhere, she tried to see past the whirl of sand, but the voice she couldn’t place.   
Suddenly, someone emerged from the gloom, a boy, taller than herself. He would have looked kinda insane, if not for the practicality of the goggles over his eyes. Dark black hair was clipped somewhat short, a black jacket with teal accents was tied around his waist, he probably used it in the desert nights. He had what used to be a white t-shirt, but now was tan from sand blowing every which way and covering the shirt. He had brown pants and black boots, an outfit much more practical for the desert she surmised than her own. His eyes seemed to glint in excitement as the wild pokemon roared, and turned to him, finding the boy as a much better opponent.   
Without warning, a teal creature burst from the ground, covering the creature in sand, even though it was the same height as Icee. Before the angry wild pokemon could react, the teal pokemon, or ‘Ezra’ she guessed, disappeared into the sand once more. Pulling out her PDex, she saw the chance to research.   
Pointing it to the massive opponent, it spun for a second, seemingly taunting her. Then, as she waited, a purple blur slammed down on the huge pokemon only to fly right back up into the sky, out of reach.   
“Gligar. The Fly Scorpion Pokemon. It flies straight at its target’s face from a cliff, then clamps down on the startled victim to inject poison.” It spoke, showing the info of the flying blur as it spun circles around the real target of her PDex.   
“Wow, you hate me that much?” Mumbling to herself, she pointed it once more at the giant creature. Meanwhile, the teal pokemon had appeared once more, covering the red eyes with sand. It roared in fury, stoping its feet, but the sand ate up the shockwaves. The teal pokemon looked like a ground type, judging by the ability it had to burrow through the ground. Its huge mouth snapped shut as it clacked angrily at its opponent. Meanwhile, the kid was laughing maniacally.   
“Yes! Suck it!” He yelled happily as the pokemon took another hit from Drac (the Gligar). “We’ll beat you this time!” He announced happily, pumping his fist into the air. So far, the huge tank-like pokemon had been unable to fight off the boy’s pokemon, and instead, with a mighty roar, it suddenly was consumed by a massive wave of sand. Suddenly, all was quiet, as quiet as it could be in a sand storm that it. “Damn.” He sighed, falling on his butt, the teal pokemon obediently came to sit beside the trainer, who looked defeated.  
“Thank you for fighting it off. I wasn’t expecting that-” Broke off by a sudden electronic whir, she rolled her eyes at the awful timing.   
“Hippowdon, the Heavyweight Pokemon. It blasts internally stored sand from ports on its body to create a towering twister for attack.” The PDex broke in with a seemingly cheerful voice. With a sigh, she moved to stand in front of the boy.   
“Name’s Damien.” He seemed much more calm now, he was petting his pokemon as the other landed beside him. “Gotta be careful around this area, that Hippowdon is really territorial. We’ve been searching for it since two weeks back when it nearly bit my leg off.” Damien grinned cheerfully, while the girl’s eyes bugged out.   
“You’ve been in here for two weeks?” It was crazy for her to imagine being in this dust bowl for so long. Sure, she had the supplies to last more than that… but to be in this mess, constantly spitting out sand, the roar of the winds. No thank you. But, he seemed to be right at home.  
“Sure. Here, these make everything much better.” He tossed her a pair of goggles, light grey, which she gladly accepted. “I’ve grown up around here, makes it easier when you’re conditioned to it.” Shrugging, Damien walked forward before kneeling to sit next to Icee.  
“Hey there.” Icee happily leaned into his touch, yipping happily. Everest donned the eye protection, pushing sand out of the lenses, before she could finally look straight into the wind.   
Now able to look around without squinting, she could make out the hazy image of hills out to the eat. Out near the edges of the hills, she could make out a couple green blurs, but not quite sure what they were.   
“Wow, these are awesome. Thanks, my name’s Everest by the way.” The guy shrugged, still smiling at Icee, who he was petting. Icee seemed to love the attention, nuzzling the warm hand that was brushing all the sand out of her coat.  
“No problem, but can I ask, why’d you come here anyways? You obviously aren’t prepared for the desert.” Everest looked down, partly in embarrassment, because the kid was certainly right about that.  
“It’s part of a favor for a friend. See, I live in the Kalos region,” Everest began, and Damien seemed incredibly interested by her statement. “He wanted me to explore the desert resort for a few items he’s been looking for.” Her voice could barely be heard over the roar of the sandstorm, but the black haired kid seemed to be hanging on every word. “I wasn’t aware that it would be like this until I got to the end of Route 4.” Shrugging, Everest decided to let Eevee out, he had been resting since early this morning when he got attacked by a gang of Darumaka.   
“Wow, you have two Eevee? That’s nuts,” He breathed, but after seemed to be wiped from his shock. “Hey, you seem pretty cool. Let’s get to my camp, I can help show you around, and maybe we’’ll find what you’re looking for.” Everest was all for more help, after all, she hadn’t seen anything yet that looked like a Mega Stone. She didn’t have the heart to tell him she actually had three Eevee, that would come later.   
“Thank you for the help.” Damien pointed to the left at her words, smiling and nodding while his pokemon followed him. Drac was perched happily on his shoulder, turning every which way as a look out. Ezra (the one she had yet to identify) was walking beside them, every once in a while it clacked its jaws towards her own pokemon, which seemed to be its way of communicating. “How do you know your way around here so easily?” The boy would change direction slightly at his own signal, but she couldn’t determine anything in the sand or surrounding areas that served as markers.  
“Over all, I’ve probably spent over a year in this desert in my life time. It becomes familiar once you now where to look.” If she hadn’t been standing behind him, Damien probably would have laughed at her expression. She was in shock.   
For now, they walked in silence as the wind picked up. They didn’t want to try and talk with a mouthful of sand. She was thankful for the goggles, more than thankful actually. he hadn’t yet been this deep into the storm but, she could tell they were certainly necessary. She yelped in surprise as a cold, wet sensation touched her leg.   
“Oh, it’s just you.” Sighing in relief, she looked down to her Eevee. He proudly held a rock in his mouth, this one looked akin to the others he retrieved, grey, about the size of her fist. “Thank you, I like this one a lot.” Taking it gingerly from the Eevee, he looked over the rock with fondness. It was just the fact he was trying so hard that made her smile.  
“Did it just give you a rock?” Damien asked, trying to see whatever value he expected to find in the rock. Shaking her head, she laughed slightly as she watched the pokemon prance of, digging another hole in the sand in search of another rock.   
“Yeah, he has a fondness for them.” He didn’t ask any more questions, just continued to lead them on their way. 

By the time night was falling, Everest was contemplating just telling Damien they could camp out in her tent for the night, when she could see something through the haze. It wasn’t natural, stone cropping out from the desert.  
“Welcome, to the Relic Castle.” Damien gestured proudly to the long-forgotten monument. The old white stone was intricately carved as they got closer. Columns rose from the marble podium on the entrance. Sand covered everything, but you could easily find the shape below the sand. The entryway was pitch black as they approached, but it didn’t look scary as one would guess.   
“What is this place?” Footsteps echoed over the marble, and the storm had gone down to almost nothing at this point, as if the Castle had some influence over nature’s power. Damien beckoned for Everest to follow to the mouth of the castle.  
“This was built over 2,500 years ago, when civilization in Unova was at its peak. Now, it lays barren, forgotten by the majority of people.” Marble statues guarded the front entry way, but she couldn’t recognize the pokemon. As they got closer, Damien pulled out some matches, and Everest smiled at the opportunity.  
“Here, I have a pokemon with a fire type move, let me.” Damien nodded, seemingly excited at the promise and put away his matches. Pulling the red and white ball from her belt, she warmly ran her fingertips over the metal. “Come on out, Spencer!” On command, as the ball sailed through the air, it popped open, releasing a red light, which easily turned into her tall friend. Spencer growled in greeting, before stepping forward to sniff Damien.   
“No way! You have a Zoroark? That’s crazy.” He smiled in greeting before bowing his head out of respect towards Spencer, who looked very pleased at his praise.   
“Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokémon, bonds between these pokemon are very strong, and has an ability to fool a large group simultaneously.” A new voice cheekily spoke, and Everest eyed his PDex with slight envy. It worked on command.   
“See those torches on the wall? Could you light them up?” Spencer growled in agreement, and stepped over the threshold of the abandoned palace. “You might want to stand back.” She whispered the last bit to Damien, who followed her example and took two steps back. The next moment, the cave was bathed in a fiery light as Spencer used a slightly out of control Flame-thrower on the walls.   
Once the smoke cleared, Everest grinned, and Spencer did her best to grin back. The torches were lit as far down as 50 yards, only a few feet of the walls got singed too. Spencer barked happily, and Everest had the feeling that it meant something about how amazing she was getting with the move.  
“Nice Flamethrower.” Damien smiled, the gestured to where a few bags were sitting, ones that they had not seen before the cavern was lit up. “These are mine, I left them here while I explored the desert some more. This is usually where I set up camp, this way I don’t have to worry about my tent getting destroyed in a storm.” The Gligar on his shoulder let out a few shrieks suddenly, nipping at Damien’s bandana which held his hair out of his face. “Right, sorry. These are my pokémon, Drac. And Ezra was my first pokémon.” The Gligar shrieked again, now out of the storm, his shriek was more powerful echoing off the walls. Ezra was the teal pokémon, and sat beside Damien happily. Deciding now she had enough time, she held her PDex up to Ezra, watching the screen for any information.   
“Trapinch, the Ant Pit Pokemon. Its nest is a sloped, bowl like pit in the desert. Once something has fallen in, there is no escape.” Looking closer, she tried to see if there were two forms for different genders, but there was none for the orange pokémon.   
“Wait, is he usually green?” Everest asked, then moving to sit on her haunches so she could examine the ground type. Ezra clacked, opening his wide mouth before slamming it shut a few times.   
“Yeah, I didn’t realize that he isn’t the usual color until later, after I caught him. But, I wouldn’t change him for the world.” Damien smiled proudly, before sitting down on the floor. “So, what about your pokémon?” Everest decided to join him before letting out the last of her friends.   
“Well, this is Icee. I got her as an egg.” Icee went into a play crouch, her tail swishing as she challenged Ezra. “And Spencer.” By then, Spencer had reorganized herself so she was behind her trainer, letting Everest rest her back against her fluff. Drac crawled forward with his claws, sniffing Everest’s bag, the pocket for rocks Eevee grabbed for her.  
As if sensing that the rocks were being tampered with, he shot from the doorway where he had been keeping watch, just to barrel into Drac with a sharp bark. That began a huge fight for dominance, as the Gligar took to the air, clinging to the wall, just out of Eevee’s reach.   
“That one, doesn’t want to be named yet. He probably will take one as soon as he evolves.” She didn’t miss the amusement on Damien’s face as a couple Swift stars were suddenly thrown at Drac, who shrieked in response. He wasn’t all that happy apparently. “And, this one, is Shawn.” Her hands easily found the one full ball, and released the soft tuff of fur.   
“Three Eevee? You must really be something to have three.” He spoke in awe, extending a hand to Shawn. The Eevee simply turned away, burying his face into Everest’s side. “Poacher?” Everest nodded sadly, avoiding the old scars.  
After that, they exchanged stories of some of their fiercest battles, (Everest didn’t mention the Rocket) then, they talked about some of the rarest pokémon they’ve seen so far. As far as Everest could tell, Damien didn’t really stray from Route 4, Castelia, or the desert. That didn’t mean he was a bad trainer or didn’t have many experiences, cause he certainly did.   
“You’ve seen a Gengar?” Everest breathed, shivers racing down her spine at the thought. Behind her, Spencer growled at the mention of the deadly ghost type, clearly not happy.   
“Yes, it was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. This trainer that was visiting Castelia let it out, to play or whatever. An hour later, it had wandered to Route 4. I was walking along, moon high in the sky, then I noticed something was wrong with my shadow. The moment I noticed, the Gengar jumped from the shadows.” Both shivered at the recollection, and Everest really did not want to ever meet a Gengar in her life.   
Sitting in silence, they watched the pokémon around them. Icee was sending small puffs of mist to Ezra, who was biting the move, making the mist explode into hundreds of tiny particles. They looked to be having fun, even if Icee was much faster than the ground type. Across the room, Drac was doing some evasion practice with her Eevee, who was sending Swift to the flying type. Spencer and Shawn were fast asleep, creating a very comfortable cushion and blanket for Everest.   
“They work pretty well together.” Everest noted, seeing that her male Eevee was becoming faster with his Swift attack. She could bet that the Trapinch was also working on his speed, trying to keep up with Icee. “Have you ever thought about leaving Unova?” Her question startled the trainer, his wide eyes and faster breathing. He took a deep breath and shrugged.  
“I have.” He was flipping his PDex in his hand, contemplating what he was about to say next. “But, I really haven’t done much traveling outside of the desert. I doubt that I would be very good at it, besides, I don’t have much money.” Beside her, Spencer grumbled lowly, her tail waving in annoyance.   
“Spencer says you don’t need talent with traveling. You’ll have your pokémon and us!” Everest hoped she got that right, as she spoke up. A warm tongue licked her arm, so she assumed she got it right.   
“Wait, really? You want to travel with me?” Damien went bug eyed at the thought before grinning. “You’re serious right? Oh man, that’s awesome!” He grinned wildly before smiling towards his partners. “Ezra, Drac, wanna go on an official adventure?” They both seemed to brighten at the prospect, and quickly surrounded their trainer.   
“Guess that settles it.” Grinning, she smiled at the trio. She was happy to have someone new to travel with, she was anxious as well to have someone else to fight with against the Rockets. 

The next morning, Everest awoke to full hearted laughter. Blinking awake, she unfolded her arms away from her face to find Damien crouching as he fought off his laughter.   
“What’s so funny?” Grumbling lowly, she glared at the boy who woke her up, who only pointed to her side. As she turned, she smiled softly, chuckling at the Eevee beside her. The male Eevee laid beside her, a huge pile of rocks surrounding him.   
“I should really name him something like Rocky or Stone.” Untangling herself from the slumbering pokemon, Everest ignored the continued laughter, and instead dug through her bag for the pokemon food. “Now, do your pokemon like Sitrus Berries, or Nanab?” This was going to be a good partnership, she could already tell. 

Five days after their meeting, Damien was well aware that Everest was searching for stones, specific ones, not the ones that her Eevee kept bringing her. It was hard to explain the concept of Mega-Evolution, so she didn’t try. Instead, she just told the boy that as soon as they got to Kalos, she would explain. In the meantime, Everest held the Dowsing Machine while Damien instructed Ezra where to dig and look for stones. So far, all they had found was a few angry Hippopotas and a golden nugget, which Damien said he was going to sell once they returned to Castelia.   
“So, what kind of pokémon are you going to try and get once we get to Kalos?” Everest asked, carefully watching the Dowsing Machine for any type of movement. Everest had explained to Damien about how gym battles worked exactly, and then everything she knew about the final Competition at the beginning of spring.  
“Not sure. I know that my team is really weak to ice and water, but I also don’t want to try and search the world for one certain pokémon. You know? I like just going with the flow, and whatever pokémon I run into, I might catch.” Damien shrugged before watching Ezra come to the surface. “Anything bud?” Ezra clacked his mouth a few times, which must have meant a negative, because Damien told the pokémon to go to the east this time.   
“I agree. But, I think it would be super cool too if you became a ground type master.” Damien turned to her curiously as they continued to wade through the sand. Thankfully, it wasn’t too strong right now, and they didn’t even wear the goggles. “Because, well, I know Gliscor is still a ground type, is Ezra’s final evolution ground too?” Damien nodded, before grimacing.  
“A master though? He becomes a dual Dragon-Ground type.” Everest nearly gasped at that. If that was true, no doubt his path would be very dangerous. Dragons are difficult to train in the first place, but it has been said Kingdra can be very temperamental, and hard to control because they gain the dragon typing later on from its evolution, no doubt the Trapinch line was the same way.   
“Something to think about.” Everest shrugged, and the Eevee atop her head squeaked quietly. “What’s up Shawn?” He sounded worried, she tried to locate the location of his stress.   
“He might just be worried about your rock crazy Eevee, looks like he found something again.” As Damien said this, she spotted the Eevee digging another hole to find something beneath the surface. She sighed and rolled her eyes, Shawn really had her worried there for a second. Although, as they continued to walk forward, she knew something was wrong. So far, she hadn’t seen the Eevee dig this much to try and get at a rock.   
“What’s up boy?” She kneeled beside the hole, not sure what was wrong. Shawn squeaked again, even more worried than before. At first, she thought, maybe he was trying to learn Dig, but when no light came up like on Ezra, she frowned. Finally, the Eevee in the hole barked, and dipped his head down.  
“Shit, don’t-” Damien’s worried shout was suddenly cut off by a bright light. Completely shocked, Everest fell back, covering her eyes with her arms as the light was burned into her retinas. Once the shock left, she watched the changing shape of her Eevee.   
His ears were the first to change, they extended further into the air, then bending so they went further behind his head. The tuft of fur on his forehead blossomed out, extending into the air. The fur around his neck grew out further, and changed shape as well. Then, in a bright wave of power, his tail grew at least a foot, along with his legs.   
“Flareon!” He barked powerfully, announcing his presence. Everest and Damien sat stone still, mouths hanging open as the Flareon trotted forward happily and dropped the Fire Stone in her lap. Wordlessly, Damien pulled out his PDex.   
“Flareon, the Flame Pokémon. It has a flame bag inside its body. After inhaling deeply, it blows out flames of nearly 3,000 degrees.” As if the Flareon didn’t believe it himself, he released a huge arc of embers into the air.   
“Good job. You found a really good one, didn’t you?” Cooing softly, she scratched behind his ears. He barked happily at the praise, before he turned to bark at Gligar happily. “Is this okay? Are you okay with being a Flareon?” Obviously, there wasn’t any going back, but she would hate to know if her Eevee wanted to be anything but a Flareon and now would never be able to be anything else. His tail was wagging happily at her question, and he licked her cheek. Now being a whole foot taller, he didn’t have to try when she sat down. She took that as a yes. Shawn jumped to the ground, carefully approaching the Flareon. She expected him to race forward and met Shawn excitedly, scaring the poor normal-type, but instead, he waited patiently for Shawn to approach. This was a new Flareon. Everest and Damien watched in total silence as this occurred, knowing this was a very important aspect of her team dynamic now.   
In total silence, Shawn stepped forward hesitantly, before his nose met Flareon’s. The fire-type’s coat burst into flames at that point, and he was running and jumping around, happy he was accepted. Gligar soon joined in, taunting the fire type who was now able to do more damage from far away.   
“Do you like the name Burn?” His head snapped to meet her gaze, his tongue hanging from his mouth at the question, tail wagging even faster, finding more energy within himself. “Okay, Burn it is.” She laughed happily, the facts sinking in, she now had two fully evolved Pokémon.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have an account on fanfic, so no, this is my story, if you’re familiar with that site. Im moving my stories over here, and updating them!


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